2015 Raymond Usseglio Chateauneuf Imperiale

The 2015 Chateauneuf du Pape Cuvee Imperiale is a big, super ripe wine, loaded with plummy, chocolaty fruit. It`s almost entirely Grenache from sandy sites, made and aged in concrete. At 16% alcohol by volume, it`s full-bodied and the tannins are ripe, creamy and supple, but the alcoholic heat isn`t particularly noticeable. Give the bit of green stemminess from some whole-cluster inclusion a year or two in bottle to merge with the rest of the wine and drink it young, before the fruit fades. 94 points