Pure, lifted fruit greets your first inhalation toned red currant, cherry, and strawberry. Underneath lie hints of violet and lilac over earthy suggestions of chalk powder and dusty gravel. The story of fruit continues in the mouth, edging toward purple, rather than red, with flavors of pomegranate and hibiscus. Structurally, the wine is stout.

Its first impression begins on the tongue’s tip on middle, leaving a spray of energetic, fine tannins on the roof of the mouth. A pleasing, affable wine now, expect it to soften and broaden even more over the next few years.

From the outset, the 2021 Sous le Chêne delivers the kind of intriguingly complex nose you linger over, trying to pick out its many constituents, which include red and black cherries, crushed blueberries, damp loam, black tea, salty brine, and white pepper. The wine’s wiry strength is clear from the moment it hits the tongue, evincing a quiet intensity not indicative of girth or size, but rather fitness and solidness of build.

In short, all this beautiful romatic complexity is a good head on the shoulders of a strong body—the wine is impressive today(if given some air), but will evolve majestically.

The perfumed nose of Memorious lies halfway between roasted strawberry and black cherry, set against a backdrop suggestive of a blooming flower garden, a pinch of fresh pipe tobacco, and bitter, but not too-dark chocolate. Upon first sip, a lush cloud of fine, sweet tannins coats the mouth, juxtaposing the wine’s silkiness of texture with its durable, coiled strength.

The quiet intensity detectable in the mid-palate leads inevitably to a long and persistent finish. Even in its youth the wine is complex and approachable, but will have a long life in bottle

The 2021 La Côte’s pugnacious power is evident even on the nose, which declares its arrival with simmering, intense aromas of those tiny but flavor-packed blueberries and red currants you only find in the wild, along with notes of black tea and dried hibiscus flower. All of these impressions are confirmed on the tongue, which instantly recognizes the wine’s immense structural power, densely packed flavors, and compactly bundled tannins.

The 2021 La Côte will reward patience, as time in bottle will allow the wine’s spectacular flavors and aromas to integrate more fully with its powerful physical structure, resulting in a wine of rare intensity and beauty.