Domaine Les Aphillanthes Rasteau Cuvee 1921 2012

90% Grenache,7% Mourvedre,3% Carignan. The 2012 Rasteau Cuvee 1921, which is almost all Grenache, looks to be just as good and has remarkable polish and elegance in the appellation. Exhibiting perfumed notes of sweet raspberry, licorice, mineral and tinges of chocolate, this full-bodied, intense, seamless and hedonistically-styled effort will drink well for upward of a decade.

Settled not far from Gigondas in the Rhône valley, Domaine Les Aphillanthes is a 37 hectares wine estate currently run by Daniel Boulle and his wife Hélène. Fourth of a generation of family winemakers, Daniel took over the estate in 1987 and started producing grapes that were sold to the coopérative until 1999 when he realized that blending the beautiful fruits with others was not the best thing to do and that he could actually produce his own cuvées.