Château Cabrières, Châteauneuf-du-Pape

I believe today’s special offering should be a requirement for everyone who subscribes to SommSelect because, unless you’re frequenting the finest French establishments, crossing paths with a wine of this caliber, age, provenance, and (low) price is largely a thing of the past. Honestly, today’s 26-year-old transcendental red offers the most vivid snapshot of mature, old-school Châteauneuf-du-Pape I’ve seen in years. Yes, years.Admittedly, I practice extreme caution when it comes to CdP these days because many have succumbed to the high-octane, overly ripe formula that fuels critics’ high scores. Those wines are not for me. In fact, I downright shun them while embracing the few producers who ignored mainstream media and instead preserved their traditional values. These authentic, “old-fashioned” Châteauneuf-du-Pape producers are a welcomed rarity, but finding one with decades of age and a $70 price tag (that’s $2.70 per year) is like emerging with a single needle from a field full of h