At the top end of Chapoutier's Southern Rhône hierarchy are the two sélections parcellaires from Châteauneuf du Pape. I had a slight preference for the 2015 Chateauneuf du Pape Croix de Bois, which comes from the Bédarrides (eastern) side of the appellation, a site with galets roulés 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.

The 2015 Châteauneuf du Pape Croix de Bois possesses a more fruit forward and exuberant character compared to the Barbe Rac and dishes out tons of blackberry, blueberry, raspberry, violets and spice characteristics. Beautifully pure and fresh on the palate, with full-bodied richness, building, sweet tannin and blockbuster length, I wouldn’t be surprised to see this be the best vintage for this cuvée to date. While I’ve always preferred the Barbe Rac cuvée in the past, the quality of the Croix de Bois cuvée continues to soar, and today I find these two wines – while very different in style – generally equal in terms of overall quality.