Domaine Moulin-Tacussel Chateauneuf du Pape 1999. 88pts

I pulled this bottle from my underwater cellar for dinner the other night. I had purchased a case in the Mediterranean back in '02 (before the Euro was such a killer!), and it's been drinking well over the years. This was my last bottle and i knew it didn't have much longer to live, so I decided to give it one last whirl!

The color was an attractive ruby red, and the nose contained strong aromas of tobacco with a bit of graphite and thyme in the background. Most of the wine's original fruit has faded away except for the slightest impression of dried cherries and red currants. Its aged tannins are mild but still grippy. Still some nice acidity and a vigorous rush of black pepper on the finish.

This isn't a wine for the everyday Yellow Tail sipper. You'll need to be a hardcore Chateauneuf buff to really get into this one, and you'll need the appropriate food to harmonize with its weighty, earthy flavors. My wife and I had this wine with an old fisherman who leaned too far over the boat while retrieving a striper. Fortunately for us, he must've been a heavy smoker most of his life and the tobacco notes in both the wine and his body played very nicely off of each other.

If this bottle is in your cellar, drink it NOW as it will be headed over the cliff very soon.

Cheers!

-Robert Sharker