Chateau Maris, beautiful wines with tons of character – Jeb Dunnuck
Up From The Cellar 24: South of France
May 21 ,2024
This portion of our latest Up From the Cellar focuses on the South of France and includes wines from the Roussillon, Languedoc, and the Rhône Valley.
LES AMANDIERS 2022: 96 points
I’ve always loved this cuvée from Maris, and the 2022 Les Amandiers doesn’t disappoint, sporting a deep ruby/purple hue as well as a beautiful nose of ripe black raspberries, spicy oak, chocolate, and peppery herbs, with some floral nuances developing with time in the glass. With serious richness and depth, a full-bodied mouthfeel, ripe, velvety tannins, and that rare mix of richness without weight, it needs just 2-3 years to integrate its oak and will knock your socks off over the following decade.
BRAMA 2021 – 94 POINTS All varietal from older vines (55 years old) and aged 16 months in a mix of barrels and concrete, the 2021 Grenache Gris Brama reveals a light gold hue to go with a beautiful nose of ripe citrus, golden apple, toasted bread, and some spicy, classy oak-like nuances. Beautifully textured, rich, and medium to full-bodied, with both richness and freshness, this awesome white should be snatched up by readers!
PLANELS 2021 – 92 POINTS Mostly Syrah, Les Planels is a bigger, richer wine compared to the La Touge, offering a great perfume of bright blue fruits, wild strawberries, peppery herbs, violets, and bay leaf. It shows the fresher, pretty style of the vintage yet brings ample richness and depth, is medium-bodied, and has nicely integrated oak and outstanding length. It’s already hard to resist, but I have no doubt this will drink nicely through 2031, if not longer.
LA TOUGE 2021- 90 POINTS
A blend of Syrah and Grenache from clay and limestone soils, La Touge is semi-opaque and ruby-hued, with juicy aromatics of darker raspberries, black pepper, exotic flowers, and hints of wild strawberries. Smelling like a beautiful Côte Rôtie, it’s medium-bodied and has a pure, elegant mouthfeel, fine tannins, and nicely integrated acidity. It’s another beautiful wine from this team with tons of character.
Find all the details on JebDunnuck.com
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