Great fruit and complexity in a finely balanced and very quaffable red.

With its meaty-herbal profile, this Syrah-Grenache blend from Provence could easily pass for a wine from Languedoc, say, from La Clape. There isn't all that much fruit, unfortunately, and so the dominant notes are limited to smoked meat, local herbs, black pepper, pine resin, and leather, though there's a sour edge that emerges on the palette, and with time raspberry and blackberry make their presences known. It's not an altogether unappealing effort, and the savoury qualities make it quite food-friendly, but it lacks finesse and charm, and ultimately that meaty-herbal profile proves limited.