Bottle number 3436, the rustic looking label showed 13.5% alcohol. I had

Bottle number 3436, the rustic looking label showed 13.5% alcohol. I had first tried this at the shop that sells this in the middle of the village of Chateauneuf du Pape. If truth be told, it was a tourist trap and I did buy a few bottles of their wines (1998 CdP red). They were reasonable wines, if overpriced and I have not seen them on sale outside of the village. When I first tasted this wine in July 2002, the spices on the nose were unbelievable to the extreme. A clean and bright light lemon, I smelled lime and liquorice but the spices were not there in the intensity that I remember. A short sip and a swirl showed the ripeness of the vintage, although the alcoholic mouth feel was verging on the unbalanced level for me. Some marzipan with the respectable length, this wine seemed fresher than I was expecting. An acquired taste and certainly overpriced (I paid around £40 (US$72, Euro 56), if you have any bottles left (which I doubt), then drink them up sooner rather than later. 85/100.