2018 Tessellae GSM Vieilles Vignes

Domaine Lafage’s Tessellae Old Vines Grenache Syrah Mourvèdre offers remarkable value. Long a FINE+RARE favourite, it is made with the fruit of vines all over 50 years in age, some over 100, in the Upper Agly Valley. As usual, the resulting wine displays a charming and expressive nose that keeps gaining in intensity with aeration. Layers of red, blue and black fruit are interlaced – from crushed strawberry and juicy blueberry to ripe blackberry. On the palate, the concentration is exemplary with explosive fruit dominating initially, before it moves to more savoury notes of liquorice, garrigue and hint of kirsch. The mouth-feel is seamless, balanced by elegant tannins that highlight the purity of the wine. There’s a mineral backbone that balances the richness in the wine; the finish very precise and persistent. The wine is already perfectly approachable and should evolve nicely for the next four to five years. Lafage has turned out another beautiful example of this cuvée.