Moving to the wines tasted from bottle, the 2012 Chateauneuf du Pape Chateau de Board is an outstanding blend of 100% Grenache that spent 12 months in a combination of new, 1-year-old, and old barrels. It’s a ripe, textured and finesse-driven beauty that gives up loads of blackberry, blueberry, lavender and wild-flower aromas and flavors in its medium to full-bodied, classy style. I’m a fan and love the overall texture, ripeness and balance. Enjoy it over the coming 5-7 years or so, although I wouldn’t be surprised to see it evolve for longer. Also, in 2011, they’ve purchased another hectare of 30-year-old vines for this cuvee, so there should be slightly more of this to go around in the future. Current production is about 1,500 bottles.