The 2015 Chateauneuf-Du-Pape Croix de Bois is another single vineyard cuvee made from 100% Grenache that was completely destemmed and aged all in concrete. It's slightly deeper ruby colored than the Barbe Rac and offers a more fruit-driven style, with notes of blueberry, plums, black cherries, spring flowers and Asian spice. Building with time in the glass, it's ripe, voluptuous and elegant, yet also concentrated and structured.

Deep ruby. Heady, expansive aromas of fresh red and blue fruits, potpourri and licorice take on white pepper and cola elements with air. Juicy, deeply concentrated boysenberry and bitter cherry flavors gain energy as the wine opens up. Sexy Asian spice and floral notes emerge on the back half and carry through the impressively long, seamless finish, which features resonating floral and spice notes and just a hint of tannins. This wine shows a more broad-shouldered personality than the relatively elegant Croix de Bois but it sure doesn't lack for vivacity.

At the top end of Chapoutier's Southern Rhone hierarchy are the two selections parcellaires from Chateauneuf du Pape. I had a slight preference for the 2015 Chateauneuf du Pape Croix de Bois, which comes from the Bedarrides (eastern) side of the appellation, a site with galets roules over clay, which Chapoutier says resists drought. This is a full-bodied, dense, plummy wine, but it retains ample freshness and offers loads of spicy complexity, including exotic notes like cumin and coriander that linger enticingly on the finish.