Score : 90/100
This wine is a blend of 70% Syrah with 30% Grenache from the Cru La Livinière in the Languedoc-Roussillon region of France.
Vines are 15 to 20 years old and planted (in 1998) at about 5000 vines/ha.
After fermentation, the wine was aged for 16 months in egg concrete tanks and standard concrete tanks. No finning was made, only a light filtration before bottling.
Tasting Notes
The wine comes in a dark red color.
Quite closed and shy initially only giving away animal characters, it opens up quite quickly revealing its spices (clove, nutmeg, and licorice), dark ripe fruit, and toasted oaky characters. I guess the high percentage of Syrah gives the wine a slightly reductive character as the grape variety often displays. Open the wine a solid hour before enjoying, or decant is the solution to get it talking straight away as you pour!
The palate is dense, full-bodied and filled with rich and quite smooth tannins. The finish is a little drying but this is a very young wine that would benefit and round up with aging.
Powerful flavors of cherry liqueur, black pepper and intense clove are dominant.
Overall it has a dry feel but the ripeness of the fruit makes it appear generous and hearty, almost warm.
Please let me know your thoughts