Vivid ruby-red. A heady, exotically perfumed bouquet offers scents of ripe red fruits, incense and smoky minerals, with an intense floral nuance gaining strength as the wine opens in the glass. Juicy, alluringly sweet black raspberry and floral pastille flavors become fleshier and weightier with air while maintaining their verve. This seamless, pure wine finishes with excellent clarity and length and supple framing tannins.

Possessing more depth and richness (as well as a darker color) than the Le Grand Pin, the 2012 Châteauneuf du Pape la Guigasse boast fabulous Grenache fruit, spice, garrigue and dried-earth-like aromas and flavors. Medium to full-bodied, ripe and textured, it builds beautifully on the palate with fine tannin, excellent mid-palate depth and terrific length. It will have 10-15 years of longevity.