“The 2021 Côtes-du-Rhône “Saint Esprit” bottling from Maison Delas is composed from a blend of sixty percent syrah and forty percent grenache, with the wine coming in at fourteen percent alcohol in this vintage. It is fermented and raised in stainless steel tank. The wine offers up a complex bouquet of red and black raspberries, roasted meats, granitic soil tones, pepper, just a hint of garrigue and a topnote of bonfire. On the palate the wine is deep, full-bodied and rock solid at the core, with a good chassis of ripe tannin, fine focus and a long, complex and very nicely balanced finish. This is tasty already, but has the underlying structure to cellar for a few years and improve with further bottle age. Good juice. 2023-2040.”

“Very oaky, with smoky bacon notes and wood smoke on the nose. Plump, sweetly ripe and juicy. The alcohol seems quite high, and the oak leads to quite a sweet effect on the finish, with tobacco and floral notes. From lieu-dit La Landonne, on schist soils with iron oxide, fermented in stainless steel, aged in new and one-year-old barrels.”

“A svelte, inviting style, with a caramelized note to the creamed peach and pear flavors, all driven by succulent lemony acidity and a saline thread. Vibrant through the long, savory finish, which is gilded with dried herbs. Marsanne and Roussanne. Drink now through 2029.”

“Dark and winey, with a well of steeped plum and smoked blackberry compote flavors layered with singed herb and vanilla-tinged cedar. The silky texture is backed up with some acid verve and cast iron mineral intensity. A modern-styled, attractive Cornas that shows good balance and tension. Drink now through 2035.”

“A svelte red, with serious aromatic and textural complexity, offering perfumed red fruit, dried flower and eucalyptus flavors that merge with base notes of cigar box, tobacco, smoked black tea and graphite. Shows toasty oak that's well-integrated and augments the power, though this never feels heavy, thanks to an undercurrent of mineral energy. Best from 2024 through 2032.”