Melton's homage to Chateauneuf du Pape, the superb 1999 Nine Popes (a blend of 54% Grenache, 44% Shiraz, and the rest Mourvedre), boasts a big, peppery, spicy perfume revealing scents of new saddle leather, blackberries, and cherries. Dense, full-bodied, and loaded, with no hard edges, but more structure than the Grenache, it will drink beautifully for 7-8 years.
Robert M. Parker, Jr. - 30 October 2002