Cotes de Ventoux Divergente, Domaine de Fondreche 2017

An old vine Syrah-dominated blend, brought up all in foudre, the 2017 Ventoux Divergent offers extraordinary notes of black fruits, bacon fat, camphor, and garrigue. Seeming to have one foot in the Northern Rhône and one in the Southern Rhône, it’s a ripe, layered, multi-dimensional Syrah that has a terrific mid-palate, a great texture, and the structure to benefit from a year or two of bottle age and evolve gracefully for over a decade.

From a parcel of Syrah planted in 1955 to the Serine form of the variety, the 2017 Ventoux Divergente aged in a foudre and a few additional barrels. Asphalt, black olive and plum notes mark the nose, while the full-bodied palate is creamy, plush, even opulent, adding hints of espresso on the lengthy finish.