Domaine De Baron’arques – 2012 – Limoux

Red wine, dark ruby-red core, with a slightly evolved rim towards tawny. Fine nose, pure, with fresh aromas of plum, cassis, dark berries. Slight sensation of dried herbs adding a lift, almost a hint of mint. Very nice palate, it has a dense fruitiness, quite youthful texture. There’s plenty of tannin in there adding to the structure, but ripe tannin; I think the wine has a few years of evolution, it’s starting to evolve. Once again I very much like the freshness of these aromas, like fresh cassis, some of those bay leaf, mint, sage, all along with some sweeter round fruit like plum. There’s a gentle hint of wood on the nose and palate; it’s reminiscent of tobacco and cedar wood, but I like this freshness very much, it’s very persistent on the palate, gives a slight indication of Cabernet actually. Regardless of what it is I like it very much, more in a restrained elegant Bordeaux style, with those juicy cassis flavours, fine herbs, sage, mint, very good length and freshness, well-balanced. This is a wine with the structure to go on for many years, but I think it works really well right now.

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