Up with the crème de la crème of the vintage, the 2007 Rasteau Cuvee Fleur de Confiance from this benchmark estate sports a deep ruby/purple-tinged color and looks more like a three-year-old wine as opposed to one approaching ten years after the vintage. Clean, pure, full-bodied notes of cassis, smoked herbs and chocolate all flow from this sensationally concentrated, textured yet balanced Southern Rhone that has killer purity of fruit and a blockbuster finish. I love it today, but it probably won’t hit full maturity for another couple of years and will keep for a decade after that.

The top effort, the 2007 Cotes du Rhone-Villages Rasteau Fleur de Confiance, is awesome. An inky/blue/black color is followed by a stunning bouquet of scorched earth, incense, blackberry jam, coffee, and spice. This full-bodied, massive, stacked and packed Rasteau is destined for two decades of life. Its sweet tannin and textured mouthfeel are compelling. Give it 2-4 years of cellaring and consume it over the following 20 years. Few vignerons are more interesting to visit than Domaine La Soumade’s Andre Romero, whose wines are longtime reference points for the wines of Rasteau, a village with some incredible terroirs as well as a high percentage of old vine Grenache. Romero makes a bevy of Vin de Pays offerings, but his finest cuvees are his Cotes du Rhone and Rasteau wines. He also produces a small amount of Gigondas. Readers who don’t think Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon can do well in the Mistral winds and dry heat of the southern Rhone should check out Soumade’s offerings. St.-Emilion’s guru, Stephane Derenoncourt is the consulting winemaker, which may help explain why these wines are so good.Importer: Eric Solomon, European Cellars, Charlotte, NC; tel. (704) 358-1565