Domaine Georges Vernay
Dense purple. Lifted, fresh, spicy aromas, blackberry fruits shot through with violet. Light- to medium-bodied, deliciously concentrated fruits but very light in style, very drinkable and fresh. Essentially it’s an extremely vibrant, bright and drinkable expression of Joven Rhône Syrah that’s hard to get enough of. No rotundone to speak of in this vintage. Doesn’t quite have the detail and high-toned freshness of the 2016, but it has more depth of fruit and concentration, despite the lack of pepperiness.
Daterra Viticultores
80-120 year-old-vines, hand harvested, no fining or filtration, minimum sulphur use. Field blend of Mouraton, Mencía, Garnacha Tintorera, Marenzao, Gran Negro, Dona Blanca, Colgadeira and Godello. Winemaker Laura Lorenzo was the winemaker and viticulturist at Dominio do Bibei for close to a decade. Searching blueberry and blackberry, the aromas are precise and vital. There’s a touch of reduction, but it’s a feature, not a fault. It’s perfumed. There are green fruits as well as red and black, like gooseberry. The aromas are like descending steps into a still, dark pool. But on the tongue, there’s energy, sap and salinity, sublime freshness, wonderful drinkability and a defined mineral edge. A quietly brilliant, entirely unshowy wine, relaxed in its own skin and not trying to be anything it’s not.
Mount Langi Ghiran
Very dense and closed at the time of tasting, but already starting to show some lifted floral notes among the ripe blueberry. Medium to full bodied, exceptionally smooth on the palate, with very ripe, smooth, velvet tannins. Long, but still closed on the palate. A wine of great purity, than reminds me somehow of a Syrah version of Secret de Sabon. Exceptionally pure and polished, but needs time to prove itself.