Chateau Martinolles – Vieilles Vignes 2013 – Limoux G

Youthful colour, light straw yellow. Quite generous nose; we clearly get some new oak here, some slightly toasted flavours, some notes of nuts, ripe lemon; Chardonnay-like aromas with a quite high degree of ripeness. Classically dry palate, no residual sugar there. Freshness is medium-high, but still quite persistent on the palate. The fruitiness is rather high here, so we go more towards yellow fruit, with ripe citrus notes, finely underlined by some notes of vanilla and wood. Some nutty notes on the finish. Attractive and well-made, still youthful with some marked oak particularly on the nose; but well-made, clean and fresh, it feels like quite ripe chardonnay made in a cooler climate, thanks to that freshness we get on the finish.

Tasted by the Best Sommelier of the World, Andreas Larsson.