You should offer to readers what you want from your tires. What are you most interested in (and related to this, in what climate or area of the country do you live)? As examples, these eight characteristics come to mind (and I'll bet I could think of a few more if you gave me more time):

1) good treadwear (e.g., long treadlife)
2) dry traction (e.g., steering response, predictable cornering, braking, as would be needed in a "sporty" driving style)
3) wet traction (e.g., steering, braking, resistance to hydroplaning)
4) off-road capable (e.g., resistance to sidewall damage from rocks, or resistance to puncture), since you do have an XC.
5) low price
6) low noise level
7) smooth, soft ride
8) able to cope with a modest depth of snow, or "all-season" rated. For serious snow, though, you will need a real "snow tire" -- all seasons are compromises, like everything else in this list.

No tire will be good in more than a couple or three of these catagories. I'll start with a hypothetical suggestion only to illustrate... suppose you're most interested in "sporty" driving on pavement (dry and wet traction), or short stopping distances in any weather -- but you never go offroad. I would suggest my favorite for this, Michelin Pilot Exalto PE2 (from TireRack), which maximizes (2) and (3) -- it can't be beat, for these. However, being W-rated, it's tread life is only modest at best, it doesn't have a smooth ride (stiff sidewall, for steering response, is counter to this), it is awful in any snow (I put on 4 snows in winter), and it's expensive!

Give folks this list reordered according to your personal priorities, and you'll get the best advice from them. Otherwise, they'll advise you based on their priorities, which may not be yours.

Good luck.