2014 Hermitage Les Greffieux Bessards
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Tasting notes
(gold capsule) Opaque ruby. Heady, smoke- and spice-tinged boysenberry, black raspberry and violet aromas show excellent clarity and a hint of licorice. Sweet and broad on the palate, offering concentrated dark berry and floral pastille flavors plus a suggestion of spicecake. The impressively long, energetic finish features bright minerally cut, an echo of juicy dark fruit and chewy tannins that come in late.
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Josh Raynolds
Josh Raynolds
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(white capsule): Youthful violet. Vibrant red fruit, violet and mineral scents are complicated by suggestions of spicecake and woodsmoke. Silky and energetic on the palate, offering gently sweet, concentrated black raspberry and floral pastille flavors and a touch of allspice. Zesty and focused on the strikingly long and penetrating finish, which is firmed by youthful, fine-grained tannins.
Bright purple. Deeply pitched black and blue fruits on the nose and in the mouth. Supple and sweet, with very good depth, strong back-end thrust and zesty acidity adding lift and bite. Faurie told me that the Bessards component always brings power and that this particular blend can be counted on to be "more reserved and more masculine" than the Greffieux/Bessards bottling, which he says is a wine that's "more mineral, floral and delicate, as Hermitage goes."