Côte Rôtie, Les Schistes, 2020

Solid but vibrant and digest, this abounds with red and dark berry fruits. A background note of plum and damson is offset by a cooling earthy note and pepper spice. Expressive, fine but gripping, this offers great substance without being remotely heavy with a raspberry freshness and salty sapidity complimenting the finish. A blend largely from the schist, south-east facing vineyards of the Verenay commune including the lower part of Viaillere, Champon and Le Plan. As ever a proportion of whole bunches have been used in fermentation, a little larger than normal given the ripeness of the crop - 50%. Ageing is in oak barriques for at least 15 months with less than 15% new wood.