CHÂTEAUNEUF DU PAPE

Inky ruby. A heady, exotically perfumed bouquet displays scents of raspberry and cherry liqueur, sandalwood, potpourri and woodsmoke. Intensely spicy and precise on the palate, which offers juicy red fruit flavors and suggestions of candied flowers and spicecake. Velvety tannins add shape to a strikingly long, smooth and floral-accented finish that shows outstanding energy and clarity. Rating: 95 Josh Raynolds, Stephen Tanzer's International Wine Cellar (Jan 2013)

(mostly grenache, with mourvedre, syrah and cinsault): Saturated ruby. Blackberry, cherry and lavender on the intensely perfumed, spicy nose and in the mouth. Deep and expansive, with impressive back-end punch and slow-building smokiness. The spice and floral notes carry through a long, sweet, gently tannic finish. Decant this one if you can't resist opening a bottle now. Rating: 91 Josh Raynolds, www.vinousmedia.com (Jan 2013)

The 2010 Chateauneuf du Pape Chante Le Merle Vieilles Vignes is a blend of 85% Grenache and the rest equal parts Syrah and Mourvedre from the same parcels as the 2011. The wine is aged primarily in foudres with small percentages of the Syrah and Mourvedre kept in new 600-liter demi-muids. A spectacular effort, it displays a confit of camphor, blueberries, blackberries, black raspberries, lavender and other floral notes. This full-bodied, massive Chateauneuf du Pape is remarkably light on its feet despite what must be 15+% alcohol. Incredibly pure and remarkably intense, this is a tour de force from Nicolas Boiron. It should drink well for two decades. Drinking range: 2012 - 2032 Rating: 99 Robert Parker, The Wine Advocate, www.RobertParker.com (Oct 2012)