2015 Arcane XIX Le Soleil

Coming from 100-year-old Grenache vines (there’s 10% each of Syrah and Mourvèdre in the blend) mostly in the northern part of the Southern Rhône. This inky coloured beauty offers a terrific perfume of blueberries, scorched earth, graphite, and crushed violets. Deep, full-bodied, incredibly pure, with silky tannins, it’s a sensational Côtes du Rhône that’s better than most Chateauneuf du Pape in the vintage. It will be even better in another year or two.

Youthfully dark in colour and fruit-forward, but it also shows softening, silky tannins. It's full-bodied but not overblown, with a sensationally seductive mouthfeel. Black cherries define the fruit, joined by hints of dark chocolate and enough garrigue to give it a seriously savory character despite the fruit. An old-vine blend of 80% Grenache with 10% each Syrah and Mourvèdre. Maybe the best Côte du Rhône Villages I've ever tasted, it looks to have the stuffing to go another 10 years.

The 2015 Cotes du Rhone Villages Arcane XIX Le Soleil is youthfully dark in color and fruit-forward, but it also shows softening, silky tannins. It's full bodied but not overblown, with a sensationally seductive mouthfeel. Black cherries define the fruit, joined by hints of dark chocolate and enough garrigue to give it a seriously savory character despite the fruit. This is an old-vine blend of 80% Grenache with 10% each Syrah and Mourvèdre, aged 15 months in one-third new oak, the rest in concrete or foudre. Maybe the best Côte du Rhône Villages I've ever tasted, it looks to have the stuffing to go another 10 years.