This superb Vieux Télégraphe vintage is the example other southern French winemakers could look to when seeking where to go next. It is a  breakthrough wine. Daniel Brunier said concisely what he, his brother Frédéric, and I were thinking as we tasted it after the bottling: “Truly classic Vieux Télégraphe, deep and powerful as usual, yet showing great finesse and class, almost an ethereal quality.”
     The bouquet is as lovely an expression of the stony plateau of La Crau as I can remember. It brings to mind the magnificent 1978, 1981, and 1983 Vieux Télégraphes. At Châteauneuf, you can’t do better.
     And pay attention to the remarkable tannin that supports the weight of the wine so well—you can actually use the word ethereal to describe the wine on the palate. Revel in that tannin—so present, so lovely. “Good grip!,” as Clive Coates likes to say.
     Drink the 2013 young, old, and in between.

**Extremely limited quantities, maximum four bottles per purchase.**