PROVENCE | FRANCE | $36
Fresh raspberry, dark cherry and purple plum with flavors of bay, cedar, damp organic earth and a suggestion of gingerbread. Medium bodied, Well integrated with excellent balance and restraint. Transitions nicely from concentrated fruit to savory earth and spice notes and then to a perk of acidity on the finish. There’s a refined-but-rustic contradiction here. He’s a man about the world, alright — cultured, mannered and groomed — and yet his hands bear the patina of years tending the fields. Mostly Mourvedre with Grenache, Cinsault and Carignan. A very good wine (Reviewed 5/27/12)