Domaine du Banneret 2023 Chateauneuf-du-Pape

"Domaine du Banneret’s 2023 Chateauneuf-du-Pape is the finest Chateauneuf-du-Pape I have yet tasted. The wine revels in extremes yet never feels awkward in its tensions. Sporting breathtaking delineation, the aromatic profile consists of fresh and pressed rose petals, violets, pine-needles, sweet spiced tobacco, orange blossom, leatherwood honey, iodine, and bitter orange rind all wrapped around a sensuous core of mercurial red fruits: fresh cherries, cranberries, wild strawberry/strawberry tops, and wild raspberry. What really elevates this wine is the sense of intrigue, the play of pairs with such clear presentation matched by the mercurial nature of the aromatic characters. That is, just as you grasp one element, whatever previously pinned-down now feels elusive. The palate operates on a similarly spectacular level with a gravity well of structure emerging in the centre of the tongue to pull the flavours to seemingly impossible depths of profundity. Utterly silken in texture, there is a veritable miasma flavours, including: lighter and darker cherries, fresh orange peel as well as dried, plum skin, black tea, spice, leather and leatherwood honey; not to mention superb bitter herbal nuances (including dried and fresh mint) along the long, delicately filigreed finish. Simply superb." — David