2003 Bodegas Julian Chivite Coleccion 125 Blanco Fermentado en Barrica Navarra
($50; 100% chardonnay, fermented in new French barriques Yellow-gold color. Smoky, leesy citrus and pear aromas are sweetened by vanilla and complicated by anise and floral honey. A chewy, suave midweight with flavors of orange, poached pear and oak spices. Finishes fleshy and velvety, with repeating oak spices and sweet pear. Very enjoyable from a sybaritic standpoint and a clear success for the style, but this could have come from anywhere.
2006 Bodegas Julian Chivite Gran Feudo Rose Navarra
($12; 100% garnacha) Bright pink. Pungent redcurrant and strawberry aromas are enlivened by orange peel and flowers. Pure red berry flavors are impressively deep, finishing with striking persistence and a lingering strawberry quality. As usual, one of the best roses of the vintage.
2001 Bodegas Julian Chivite Coleccion 125 Tinto Reserva Navarra
($47) Deep red. Explosively perfumed nose offers oak spice-accented raspberry, cherry and blackcurrant aromas and a hint of dark chocolate. Lush and sweet, with a velvety texture and deep, jammy dark fruit flavors framed by supple tannins. Takes a smoky turn on the impressively sweet and long finish.
2004 Bodegas Julian Chivite Coleccion 125 Vendimia Tardia Navarra
($44; for 375 ml.; made from moscatel de grano menudo) Green-tinged medium gold. Explosively fragrant nose displays an expansive bouquet of peach, pear and orange marmalade accompanied by exotic baking spices. Silky, densely flavored and medium-bodied, with bitter orange-accented pit fruit flavors and slow-mounting vanilla and clove. Takes on a sweeter tangerine character on the long, spicy finish. Drink this now, while the exotic qualities are in full cry. (Kobrand Corporation, New York, NY)
