Pino 2023

This bobal reminds me of a beautifully refined, linear Rhone-style syrah. Meaty aromas of lard and dried herbs, then it becomes floral and spicy, but there’s dark, vibrant fruit all along. On the palate this is chalky and vertical, and there isn’t much fruit, which doesn’t bring fullness. This is a classy, tense, stony wine that’s structured and melted. Amazing value for the money. From organically grown grapes. Drink now.

The 2023 Pino, a wine that tends to be quite shy when young but showed quite gentle, comes from a vineyard with a strong character, one hectare planted 40 years ago on limestone soils at 800 meters above sea level. The full clusters fermented in a 4,500-liter oak foudre and matured in an oval 3,500-liter oak vat for 10 months. There's some oak in the nose here, spicy and faintly smoky, a serious profile, with big bones, a medium to full-bodied palate and abundant tannins that need time in bottle to be resolved. A second bottle showed less impact from the wood. It has good ripeness, 13.5% alcohol with a pH of 3.5 and 5.8 grams of acidity. It has very good aging potential. 4,000 bottles were produced. It was bottled in late July 2024. A bottle of 2010 felt young, with intense notes of tapenade and tree bark.