The 2017 Givry 1er Cru Clos Marole had already come together nicely when I tasted it, revealing a deeper-pitched bouquet than the Bois Cheveaux and featuring notes of juicy cherries, wild berries and warm spices. On the palate, it's medium to full-bodied,...
2010 was a great vintage in Rioja in general and seems to be exceptional here, with a 2010 Viña Ardanza Selecci?n Especial (what used to be Reserva Especial) that can challenge any of the recent vintages and hopefully can develop in bottle to reach...
The 2016 Crozes Hermitage Les Pierrelles comes from sandy, pebbly soils and spent 14 months in 2- to 5-year-old barrels. Saturated purple/ruby-colored, with beautiful notes of blackberries, pepper, ground herbs, and hints of minerality, it hits the palate...
Here too the nose is completely dominated by pungent oak and reduction. The delicious and vibrant medium weight flavors possess a beguilingly supple, even velvety, texture that contrasts moderately with the dusty, firm, and youthfully austere bitter pit f...
This is also pretty aromatically raw with a similar nose of firm reduction and wood toast. On the palate though there is again good verve and freshness to the less dense but finer middle weight flavors that exude more evident minerality on the equally fir...
A markedly more floral-suffused nose features notes of black pinot fruit, exotic tea and a whiff of oak toast. Once again I very much like the texture of the sleeker and finer medium weight flavors that exude a subtle minerality on the firm but refined fi...