8/9/2023 - forceberry wrote: 85 points

100% Regent from a vineyard planted in 2013. Aged for 12 months in French oak barriques. 12% alcohol.

Youthful, luminous ruby-red color. The nose feels sweet, open and somewhat dark-toned with quite intense aromas of blueberries, some vanilla oak, a little bit of dark plummy fruit, light strawberry tones, a hint of cloves, a touch of sweet oak spice and a whiff of crème de cassis. The wine feels firm, sinewy and somewhat polished on the palate with a medium body and intense, rather glossy and quite oak-driven flavors of vanilla and sweet oak spice, some ripe blackcurrant tones, a little bit of blueberry juice, light notes of fresh dark plums, a hint of clove and a touch of brambly black raspberry. The wine could be a rich, oaky crowdpleaser wine if it weren't for its surprisingly lean structure - all thanks to its bright, zippy and quite incisive acidity and light yet surprisingly grippy medium-minus tannins. The finish is dry, crunchy and slightly grippy with a rather long, acid-driven aftertaste of tart lingonberries and fresh dark plums, some vanilla tones, a little bit of cloves and other sweet oak spices, light bilberry tones, hints of ripe cranberries and wild strawberries and a touch of crème de cassis.

This could've been a rather nice wine, if it weren't for the somewhat overdone oak impact, which renders the wine rather sweet and glossy. The overall feel here is wonderfully firm, crunchy and enjoyably acid-driven with surprisingly vibrant fruit intensity. The lush oaky notes just transform the wine into something sweet, boring and anonymous - more like a dry mulled wine. I guess letting the wine age for some years more might help integrating some of that oak a little bit better, but I doubt any amount of aging is enough to integrate all that oak. Priced somewhat according to its quality at 17,50€.

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