Domaine Croze-Granier Lirac 2023.
80% Shiraz, 20% Grenache. The last lot of this wine that we got sold out so fast that I have gone and got some more. Certified organic.
Lirac is a vineyard area on the other side of the Rhône River straight across from Châteauneuf-du-Pape. It is a very similar looking area too with the same grape varieties being grown.
I knew nothing about this domaine when I met owner-winemaker Mathilde Cobbi in February but having been completely stunned by her entry level Côtes-du-Rhône I was certainly feeling more optimistic about the Lirac than I had been at the outset. That said, I have never before imported Lirac because I have never found one that was sufficiently good value-for-money. Other producers had always told me that Lirac was exactly the same quality of land as you have over the other side of the Rhône river in Châteauneuf-du-Pape but, quite honestly, I had never seen a clear connection with its illustrious neighbour in the glass, and so I had remained sceptical. And this wine was 25% less expensive than any other Lirac I had ever tasted before and I couldn’t work out whether that was a good sign or not, but one quick sniff and BAM! This wine was a stunning revelation. Probably thanks to the high Shiraz proportion in the blend, this is an absolute bomb of a wine. Unmissable and one of the biggest bargains I have ever stumbled upon so far in the southern Rhône.
Whooshka! Highly lifted nose, dark but high toned and complex, ultra rich mulberry, plum, leather, and earth, deep and nuanced, spicy, woody, herbal notes, endlessly evocative, while the palate is a monster of pure satisfaction, hearty, strapping, very full yet utterly slurpable and absolutely jam packed with flavour.
15.5% ABV.
Drink now to 2035
