Richard takes the temperature of special bottlings from a hot vintage in Châteauneuf-du-Pape. For a more detailed review of the southern Rhône in 2017, see this overview article.
There are a third more tasting notes for these Cuvées Spéciales (pictured here, wrapped in brown paper bags) than for the Tradition bottlings in 2017. Despite the vintage being severely restricted by mother nature in Châteauneuf-du-Pape, the excellence of the harvest apparently didn't restrict the number of (putatively) higher-quality cuvées being made. These include single-varietal wines, single-vineyard selections, often with lots of new oak in attendance. Perhaps the fact that they...