I reviewed this wine a couple years ago and didn’t like it that much… now going into 7 years, it shows a whopping quotient of classic CdP qualities: but heavy on the Syrah and Mourvedre–with only background noise from the Grenache. This would be fun to put up alongside some other new-world GSM’s i’ve been hard on classically, like Tablas Esprit, for example. Deep garnet with browning edges, a nose on one hand flabby and burnt, but on the other showing richly-modified fruit, deep and smoldering: the cherry piquant, the floral piquant, the dry angst of pepper moldy and vivid.

In the mouth, calm integration rules, though still troubled by a bit of heat. But petrichor and gravitas rules the roost here and the bitter calm of structure manipulates the fruit in miraculous ways. Sharp raspberry is fondled down into velvety savory and while slight maderization remains an issue, the whole package has solidified into fair greatness. Brooding and intelligent. Drink it at cellar-temp and it’s gorgeous–at room-temp the chubby heat becomes the star. Lovely throughout, a beautiful Rhone-nod from a region not making too many GSM’s.

2015 RIDEAU VINEYARD ‘Chateau Duplantier’ SY/MV/GR/PS 35/25/21/19 Santa Barbara Co. 14.1

https://rideauvineyard.com/