Château La Cabanne 2021

Open nose, fruit-driven with a fine creamy touch. Creamy, soft palate, accessible, not over-extracted, showing breed and character, finishing on delicate red fruit. Successful.

Sharp and high-toned, tangy straight away with a hit of buzzy red fruit. It's light but pleasurable, with slightly dry, salty tannins, yet overall it has a nice, fun character with a juicy core. Not the longest, but very approachable with a clean, pure finish.

An array of cherries, chocolate, violets and hazelnuts here. Olives, too, with a salty undertone. It’s medium-bodied, nicely fleshed out and creamy with a fresh finish. Drink or hold.

Flowers, cocoa, spice, black raspberries and cherries form the nose. The palate is medium-bodied, vibrant, elegant and fresh, with lift, energy and sweetness to the fruit from the mid-palate through to the plummy, chocolatey finish. Drink from 2024-2036.

Dark garnet with delicate purple hues. A subtle leafy-herbal, savoury note underpins black cherry and red berry nuances. Light-bodied with red cherry fruit, somewhat loosely knit, lean style, fresh finish.

Based on 94% Merlot and the rest Cabernet Franc, the 2021 Château La Cabanne has a medium-bodied, easygoing, enjoyable style as well as moderate aromas and flavors of red and black fruits, leafy herbs, and earth. Drink this moderately concentrated, forward, enjoyable effort over the coming 7-8 years or so.

Kunz barrel sample 2022: (94% Merlot, 6% Cabernet Franc, 30 hl/ha, 13.5% alc. vol., production 20,000 bottles) Herbal, medium-bodied bouquet, strawberries, cherries, green herbs. Firm, slender palate with fine sandy tannins, medium aromatics, good fruit, bourgeois structure, slightly bitter finish. Has room to improve.

(94% Merlot, 6% Cabernet Franc, 30 hl/ha, 13.5% abv, production 20,000 bottles) Herbal, medium-bodied bouquet, strawberries, cherries, green herbs. Firm, slender palate with fine sandy tannins, medium aromatics, good fruit, bourgeois structure, herbal finish. Can still improve. 16/20 2027 - 2040

Bright ruby in colour, this starts out well with cheerful fruit flavours, but quickly closes in with the oak, strangling the fruit. This is not a vintage to be heavy-handed with oak, and although it maintains estate signature, it doesn't help enhance the character of the vintage. 30hl/h yield, 55% new oak.

The 2021 La Cabanne, 94% Merlot and 6% Cabernet Franc, is deep garnet-purple in color. It skips out with vivacious notes of wild blueberries and black raspberries followed by nuances of violets, aniseed, and dark chocolate. The medium-bodied palate delivers impressive intensity, with fine-grained tannins and bags of freshness, finishing with lovely purity. This is nicely done!

The initial nose is extremely gentle, enticing like a smiling young boy offering a glass of freshly pressed cherry juice. A light, fluid, silky touch that already makes the wine very approachable. A Pomerol for immediate, uncomplicated pleasure.

Fruity and juicy, the wine impresses with its harmony and the freshness of its bouquet. Harmony also runs through the palate, with an elegant wine guided by velvety tannins and a revitalizing freshness. A tonic, elegant, well-balanced wine built to age… but given its tastiness, it will be drunk sooner! And that’s just fine 🙂

The 2021 La Cabanne offers up generous aromas of sweet berries, fruitcake and pencil shavings, followed by a medium- to full-bodied, fleshy and seamless palate that's pure and charming, with supple tannins and a sweet core of fruit. It will offer pleasurable near-term drinking.