Nose
Nose of liquorice and violet wrapped around classic black fruit aromas.
Palate
Voluminous, soft palate. The tannins are well-integrated, showing plenty of character but without aggressiveness and underlying some fine fruit. One word sums it all: elegance.
Growing Conditions
It’s always challenging to write about a wonderful vintage, when it follows a wonderful vintage. That said the 2016 scores higher in our minds than the 2015. The color is superb, the aromas and tannins were released without effort, and the wine is beautifully balanced.
The bud break happened in late March, following a very mild winter. Springtime was rainy, very rainy, and fortunately flowering took place during a window of dry weather in June. The very dry weather set in in July and lasted until mid-September giving the grapes a remarkable concentration with colour and tannins.
Harvest
The rains arrived just at the right time to accelerate maturity, and allowed for stress-free harvesting.
We started picking the merlots on October 6th, the last cabernets were crushed on the 21st.
Bottling
The vintage was bottles in march 2019.
Aging
This year the wines were aged in a higher percentage of New oak barrels than normal, and for 16 months vs 12 months, as we occasionally do on very special vintages.
Appearance
Magnificent deep ruby colour with purple tints.
Food Pairing
**Starters**
Popcorn-crusted chicken wing stuffed with bone marrow
Smoked quail, celeriac, winter truffles, piedmont hazelnuts, confit egg yolk
**Main courses**
Wood pigeon with turnip remoulade, wild garlic& pickles
7 hour braised lamb, pickled watermelon, feta, smoked aubergine
Highland wagyu beef, beetroot, smoked bone marrow, bitter leaf
Roast pigeon, aubergine and lemon balm