Smokeshow '19s here. And that we were sure we’d seen the last of them makes this small parcel of Antoine's seldom-seen Gamay extra fun, particularly with weeknight pricing attached.
The cuvée comes from a little plot of Gamay in Fixin. Hearing Antoine talk through its particulars you get the sense he feels freer and more improvisational in his approach than elsewhere in his range. The result is a wine rendered in a different key than the rest; its mode is more spontaneous, wilder.
The nose leads with wonderfully fresh notes of cranberry and wild strawberry along with the natural touches you’ll be expecting. There is just a nip of VA that seems eager to push the fragrance out of its glass. It's a nose that moves.
But the surprise, and a lovely one, is the depth of flavor. Though the nose tunnels a butterfly-in-the-breeze of a wine, we are in fact treated to a more substantial pleasure. Flowers and sweet spice details give real range to the fruit and with time the ’19 hedonism takes off.
An ace summer red, preferably onc served closer to fridge than room temp.
Cheers,
Jason
