Château Saint-Roch Chimères 2012

Made from 60% Grenache, 30% Syrah and 10% Carignan, the 2012 Cotes du Roussillon Villages Chimeres is mind-blowing stuff that comes from 100- to 105-year-old vines and spent 8-12 months in a combination of 500-liter barrels and concrete vats. From primarily schist soils, it boasts knockout aromas of black currants, smoked earth, licorice and wild herbs that give way to a full-bodied, voluptuously textured effort that has a loaded mid-palate, no hard edges and serious length on the finish. Possessing a solid 4-5 years of prime drinking (if not more), it's a brilliant value that readers need to snatch up. Score - 93. (Jeb Dunnuck, erobertparker.com, Feb. 2014)