Domaine Comte de Lauze Châteauneuf-du-Pape

Red brick colour, and a beautiful nose of soft ripe fruit. On the palate this is really hot, but not in the alcoholic sense. Spice dominates; underneath you sense that the wine is starting to develop secondary characteristics, but it's hard to tell against the fierce spicy/peppery attack. Enjoyable enough, but for me it's slightly unbalanced. g

There is a hint of brown in the colour. The taste is dominated by spice, but there is plenty of fruit - slightly sour but not unpleasantly so. The finish is all spice and soft tannin, and the 14.5% alcohol level is also noticable. My first from this domaine - bought from the shop in Chateauneuf - it's perfectly agreeable, but not enough to make me rush back to stock up. g-