The ever-compelling Les Armes de Princes is a dark, richly spiced red from the only wine cooperative in France’s celebrated Châteauneuf-du-Pape region. Just one sip will show you why the operation has remained successful—and its bottles have become so coveted—for an entire century.

Called Le Cellier des Princes (or, ‘The Cellar of the Princes’), it was established in 1925 as a small collective and now boasts a membership of around 120 smaller winegrowers, who farm just over 1,500 acres between them. Though the winery is based in Châteauneuf, some of the growers’ vines extend into neighboring areas, which is why the prestigious appellation doesn’t appear on all of their bottles’ labels.

(Read: You're often getting Châteauneuf-du-Pape quality without hefty price tags.)

Once the fruit gets to the main cellar, it’s ushered into wine by star winemaker Thierry Ferlay, who’s won more gold medals than any other of the region’s producers. Because the cooperative’s network is so vast, Thierry has access to some of the best grapes available, and thanks to the cooperative’s shared costs, he also has the sleekest equipment with which to work….

Add that all up and you get some seriously good stuff.

For this wine, Thierry blended Grenache with Syrah, Carignan and a locally prized grape known as Caladoc, then aged the wine nine months in concrete vats, bottled it and aged it three months longer. (The extra time helps round out and soften the tannins to cushion-like perfection.)

You can look forward to velvety smooth flavors of blackberry, black cherry, damson and licorice balanced by the region’s trademark herbal quality. It all lingers long on the palate, making the wine an excellent match for sausages, grilled meats or pizza.