Domaine Maxime Renaudin Pays d'Hérault Rouge 2020

Newcomer Maxime Renaudin produces just 2,500 bottles per year. Nevertheless, within a few years he has earned a reputation as an exceptional talent in southern France. His Vin de Garde is a cuvée of 40% Syrah and 40% Carignan, supplemented by 20% Grenache, grown on calcareous clay soil. It is vinified separately and aged for 24 months in barriques from a barrel producer associated with Domaine de la Romanée-Conti – with an impressive 30% new wood content. The result is a dense, black-fruity and darkly spicy wine with beautiful garrigue notes, but one that retains its silky, precisely defined structure at all times. A finish of almost epic length rounds off the strong performance.