The 2006 Chateauneuf du Pape L’Immortelle is a small oak cask-aged blend of 60% Mourvedre and 40% Grenache and Syrah, the latter two components aged in tank and then blended with the barrique-aged Mourvedre. The 2006 is dense ruby/purple with blue overtones, and has a distinctive nose of blueberry, blackberry, licorice, pepper, underbrush, and spice. This rich, full-bodied wine is built for the long haul – 15 to 20 years. To repeat what I’ve said in the past, this is a top-flight estate making Chateauneuf du Pape for long-term aging, with the top cuvees essentially as ageworthy as most vintages of Bordeaux. The philosophy is modern or progressive depending on your point of view, with a very liberal use of small oak barrels, but once past four or five years in the bottle, I have always found La Gardine’s Chateauneuf du Pape to be very Provencal despite their reliance on abundant new oak. Importer: Shaw-Ross Intl. Importer