Domaine La Barroche Pure Châteauneuf-du-Pape 2023 is a perfumed, silky red made entirely from Grenache, grown on a single parcel of pure sand in the Rhône Valley's most famous southern appellation. Power is there, but it arrives wrapped in fine texture rather than weight.

Raspberry and morello cherry lead, with violets, dried thyme and a twist of liquorice behind them. Time in the glass brings something more savoury — warm stones, orange peel, a faint whiff of garrigue scrub.

The sandy soil shows in the shape of the wine: tannins that feel more like fine grain than grip, a bright red-fruited core and acidity that keeps the mid-palate lifted. It finishes long and mineral, with dried spice lingering well after the fruit has faded. Young bottles reward an hour in a decanter. Worth noting that the fruit comes from centenarian vines, and that no Pure was made in 2022, so the 2023 follows a gap.

Roast lamb with rosemary and garlic is the obvious call, though it handles duck, mushroom risotto, slow-cooked beef cheek or a plate of washed-rind cheese just as happily.

Drinking beautifully from 2026 and holding through to around 2040 in good cellar conditions.