M. Chapoutier Barbe Rac 2010

Even better and one of the top 5-8 wines of the vintage, the 100% Grenache 2010 M. Chapoutier Châteauneuf-du-Pape Barbe Rac is more serious, structured, and reserved than the Croix de Bois. Aged all in vat for 16 months, it offers up a profound array of small berry fruit, wild flowers, liquid minerality, white pepper, and garrigue that is followed by an energetic, lively Châteauneuf-du-Pape that has full-bodied power, perfect balance, and an incredible, seamless, and polished texture that carries masses of finely polished tannin. World-class stuff, and while I would drink it any day of the week, it deserves 5-7 years of bottle age, and will age gracefully for two decades or more.

(100% grenache raised in concrete tanks): Full ruby. Deeper in pitch and more brooding than the Croix de Bois, offering scents and flavors of cherry, blackberry and licorice, with a spicy topnote. In a generous, palate-coating style, finishing with impressive power and persistence. These two Chateauneufs are completely different in style but equal in quality, even if I do admit a personal preference for the Croix de Bois.

A magnificent effort, the 2010 Chateauneuf du Pape Barbe Rac boasts huge notes of kirsch, exotic herbs, lavender, cedar, fig, black cherry, black currant, licorice and roasted meats. This flamboyant, rich, full-throttle Chateauneuf du Pape should age well for two decades. It will be interesting to follow this wine’s evolution alongside the brilliant 2009 and 2007 Barbe Racs. Importer: Paterno Imports, Lake Bluff, IL; tel. (847) 604-8900