Tasted out of bottle, the 2017 Châteauneuf Du Pape Colombis is a thrilling Grenache that offers both richness and elegance. Awesome notes of currant, blackberries, garrigue, and crushed flowers all flow to a full-bodied wine that has ultra-fine tannins, not a hard edge to be found, incredible purity, and a great, great finish. It’s a riveting example of Grenache that can be drunk today or cellared for 10-15 years.

Garrigue, plum, kirsch and cherries are made even better with their spicy, peppery kick. Rich, fresh, juicy clean and pure, the red cherries pop with energetic freshness and purity. The finish, which shows more of that beautiful sense of purity feels as good as it tastes on the palate. The wine is made from 100% old vine Grenache. Read more at:https://www.thewinecellarinsider.com/wine-tasting-note/?vintage=2017&wine=Domaine%20Isabel%20Ferrando%20Chateauneuf-du-Pape%20Colombis

Hints of sun-scorched bramble and violet perfume pristine blackberry and boysenberry flavors in this rich, stately wine. A hundred percent Grenache sourced from vines averaging 60 years old and fermented in whole clusters, it's penetrating in extraction but fresh and spry. Firm, bracing tannins and a zesty mineral edge mark the finish. While still approaching peak, it should drink beautifully through 2030. — Anna Lee C. Iijima

Ripe and friendly, with an expressive core of raspberry, plum and cherry pâte de fruit flavors streaming through, laced with anise hints and supported by a well-embedded graphite streak. Shows juicy energy throughout. Best from 2020 through 2040. 750 cases made, 150 cases imported.

The 2017 Chateauneuf du Pape Colombis, sourced (as always) from three parcels of old Grenache vines, shows more oak than I would have expected and some chewy tannins on the finish. There's plenty of ripe berry fruit and ample weight and concentration, so if the wood and tannins integrate and soften, my rating could look stingy in a few years' time. - JC