Domaine du Vieux Télégraphe : Télégramme 2023

A seductive version, with full ripeness yet balanced restraint to the round, warm notes of red licorice and cherry, flecked with lavender and vanilla bean. A stream of graphite matches the ripeness, making for a perfumed, incense-driven, tangy finish, with dried herbs, turmeric and earth. Lovely. Grenache, Syrah, Mourvèdre and Cinsault. Drink now through 2038. 1,250 cases imported.

The 2023 Châteauneuf-du-Pape Télégramme shows well, offering up ripe strawberry, raspberry and hints of licorice. Perfumed and pretty, the 2023 is a medium- to full-bodied, casual Télégramme that’s smoothly structured through polished tannins, finalizing with delicacy and finesse on the savory dissolve. Give it two more years in bottle before pulling the cork.