I was questioning if the top cuvées were worth the money after tasting the traditional cuvée from winemaker Nicolas Boiron, then I tasted his 2016 Châteauneuf-du-Pape A La Gloire de Mon Grand-Père and decided that, yes indeed, the special cuvées in 2016 can certainly be worth the uptick in price. Based almost exclusively on Grenache (there’s a splash of Cinsault and Clairette) sourced from the La Gardiole lieu-dit and aged mostly in demi-muids, this heavenly beauty offers awesome notes of garrigue, toasted spices, flowers, licorice and loads of sweet Grenache fruit. Voluptuous, flamboyant, and sexy, yet also elegant and seamless, with a weightless texture, this is Grenache at its finest and is going to knock your socks off over the coming 10-15 years.

There are 10,000 bottles of the stunning 2016 Châteauneuf du Pape A la Gloire de Mon Grand-Père, which is good news for lovers of 100% Grenache. Drawn from a single parcel in the lieu-dit of Gardiole (mostly sandy soils), half of the fruit was destemmed. It's full-bodied and concentrated but silky and refined, with scintillating purity of cherry and raspberry fruit, backed by crisp acids and enlivening hints of orange zest on the long, reverberating finish. It's a terrific value that should drink well for more than a decade. - Joe Czerwinski

Hints of bramble, clove and crushed earth accent plump black-cherry and raspberry flavors in this Grenache-dominant wine (augmented by just a percentage each of Cinsault and Clairette). Sourced from clay soils in the La Gardiole vineyard, it's a rich, glossy wine anchored by a cooling granitic undertone and a gripping, tannic finish. Vibrant fruit flavors are appealing already but the wine should improve through 2030 and hold further. - ANNA LEE C. IIJIMA

Sublime, with a huge core of warm cassis flavors infused with black tea, singed mesquite, warm anise, blood orange and raspberry pâte de fruit notes. Ample grip provides balance but is completely embedded in the fruit, resulting in a long, beguiling feel through the finish. Best from 2022 through 2036. - J.M.