2018 - Chateauneuf-du-Pape Colombis, Isabel Ferrando

At the risk of not being literal enough, tasting Isabel Ferrando's 2018 Chateauneuf du Pape Colombis is like drinking purple flowers. Deep rose and violet notes are seamlessly joined to purple raspberries in a full-bodied wine that seems almost weightless on the palate. There's terrific inner-mouth perfume, near-ethereal tannins that support the wine's girth via a taut, gossamer structure, and a finish tinged with star anise and black cherries that just won't quit. A tour de force of pure Grenache, it should drink well for a decade, perhaps longer.

Shimmering ruby. An expansive bouquet evokes ripe, spice-tinged red/blue fruits, potpourri and incense, and a smoky mineral nuance builds in the glass. Shows impressive depth and energy to the sappy black raspberry, boysenberry, spicecake and floral pastille flavors, which are braced by a spine of juicy acidity. Impressively lithe for its heft, finishing on a gently tannic note, with fine delineation and floral lift.

100% Grenache. Aged in old oak. Tank sample. Tasted blind. A Pinot in Grenache's clothing: all red fruit and earth on the nose, with attractive herbal complexity too. Pumped-up palate with full body, high alcohol but ultra-smooth tannins that provide good internal structure without imposing themselves. Moderate length with a savoury liquorice finish. (RH)