My favorite of the lineup, and one of the top Chateauneufs in the vintage, the 2012 Chateauneuf du Pape Imperiale is 95% Grenache (5% other varieties) that comes from 100-year-old vines and the pure sand soils of the Piallon (near Rayas) and Girardette (near Charbonnière) lieux-dits. It offers awesome black and blue fruits, violets, licorice and crushed rock-like minerality in its full-bodied, balanced, pure and elegant profile. Impressively concentrated, inky colored and with sweet tannin, it’s capable of evolving for 12-15 years or more.