Châteauneuf-du-Pape, Southern Rhône · Served with dinner · Around 65% Grenache, 15% Syrah, 15% Mourvèdre, 5% Cinsault

The Brunier family has farmed the La Crau plateau since 1898. The estate takes its name from an optical telegraph tower that stood on the plateau in the 1790s, one of a chain of towers that passed signals between Paris and Marseille long before the electric telegraph. The ground is covered in large round stones that soak up the sun by day and give off heat at night.

2005 was a powerful, structured vintage, and twenty years on it's in a beautiful place: dark cherry and dried plum, with garrigue herbs, leather and a little spice. Warm, generous and made for the dinner table.