2016 Crozes Hermitage Cuvee Gaby

Brilliant violet. Lively aromas of fresh blackberry, cherry, olive and candied flowers, along with an exotic touch of Moroccan spices. At once rich and energetic, offering palate-caressing black and blue fruit flavors and hints of violet pastille, olive and five-spice powder. Picks up a smoky nuance with air and finishes smooth, juicy and very long, leaving behind resonating mineral spice and floral notes.

The flagship from Crozes, the 2016 Crozes Hermitage Gaby comes from limestone and clay soils around Tain and Mercurol and spent 12 months in 1- to 5-year-old barrels. Offering more freshness and purity in its blackberry and black cherry fruit, ground herbs, violets, and gravelly minerality, it's one of the richer, more concentrated wines in the vintage yet still has the charming nature of 2016 front and center. It has the balance and depth to drink nicely for upward of a decade. I continue to love the wines of owner/winemaker Florent Viale. This tiny Crozes-Hermitage estate covers roughly 13 hectares in Crozes and has a tiny parcel in Hermitage. These are classic, traditional wines that are destemmed and brought up in demi-muids, with new oak kept to around 20% for most cuvées.

A bit closed at the moment, the 2016 Crozes Hermitage Cuvee Gaby is earthy and cedary on the nose, reticent to show off too much fruit. But it's medium to full-bodied on the palate, with supple tannins, a creamy mouthfeel and lush, plummy fruit, finishing with hints of baking spices.