Also up with the top wines of the vintage, the 2010 Chateauneuf-du-Pape Combe des Fous shows the darker fruit and minerality of the vintage with its creme de cassis, blackberry, ground pepper, licorice and ample crushed rock-like minerality. Gaining more than one expletive in the notes, this full-bodied 2010 has thrilling purity of fruit, massive underlying structure and a rich, layered and decadent feel on the finish. As with most 2010s, it needs another 3 to 4 years of bottle age and will easily have two decades of overall longevity. - Jeb Dunnuck

This is very densely packed with toasted fig bread charcoal roasted espresso bean steeped black currant and blackberry fruit followed by a flash of pastis on the finish. Very dark and rich but has grip and length for balance revealing a terrific but deeply imbedded graphite spine in reserve. Best from 2015 through 2030. From France.-J.M.