The Drinks Business
byColin Haythe8/27/2025
(Corbières; 56% Syrah; 27% Mourvèdre; 10% Grenache Noir; 7% Carignan – in fresher vintages, like 2021, there is more Mourvèdre, Grenache and Carignan here; pH 3.57; from selected parcels at the top of the slope on low-yielding soils of clay and sandstone; sourced from around 25 hectares from a property of 150 hectares; all the parcels have a northern exposition with their backs to the Mediterranean, but crucially refreshed by it; 50% is aged in French oak barrels, a third of them new; 14.5% alcohol; certified organic in 2022, so this vintage made in transition; tasted with Jean de Roquefeuille and Olivier Gailly). In the vineyard there was plenty of frost damage, but only at lower elevations. The end result was just to delay the maturation of the fruit which was, consequently, picked in fresher conditions. Impressively youthful. Less spicy, toasty and rich than the 2020 and correspondingly more marked by the fresh dark autumnal berry fruits. There’s a touch of grated mace and plenty of peppery Syrah spice. Sage too and a pleasing hint of graphite. This is saline in its minerality and almost a little Italianate, as I have noted before here. There’s also a slight bloody-ferrous note. I prefer this to the more brusque and burly 2020. This, in contrast, though just as intense and powerful in its way is, at the same time, altogether lighter on its feet with a very lifted and aerial finish. 92+.