Almost as good as the Barbe Rac, the 2012 Chateauneuf du Pape Croix de Bois (100% Grenache from 100-year-old vines and clay soils) is a stunner that offers loads of upfront dark fruits, spiced cherries, chocolate, garrigue and a slight saline-like minerality on both the nose and palate. Full-bodied and impressively concentrated, with rock-star texture, notable purity and good underlying structure, it’s a serious, fruit-loaded Chateauneuf that will have 10-15 years of longevity.