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Domaine Laroche is a Fine Wine producer in Chablis since 1850

Pristine concentration and complexity of favour are the hallmarks of Simmonet-Febvre, a revered maker in Chablis. Stonefruits and ruby grapefruit with grilled nuts, owing no doubt to Simmonet-Febvre's insistence on ageing their Premier-Cru wines on lees for over a year. Has all the zippy-freshness you would expect from a high-level Chablis.

This wine shows the style of the vintage and quite likely the impact of the small crop. In such years, Cabernet Sauvignon in particular, has a complex but somewhat subdued nose, where the wine hints of the underlying power and complexity but takes years to reveal its true colours. So here we see smouldering red currant, black currant and mulberry, with a floral, violet lift, sitting over cedar and tar. On the palate there is concentration and length - dark fruits combining with firm tannin and leather and tarry notes.

Colour and Condition: Deep brick red hue; bright condition. Nose: A really youthful appeal, with an immediate impression of dark fruit aromas black berries, mulberries and black currants. A second viewing shows the beginnings Merlots darker side, with tar, leather and earth just starting to add complexity into the background. Palate: The classic Merlot palate, with rich, dark berry flavours like black jubes filling the front and mid palate. Firm tannin then takes over and gives the wine a linear, astringent but not too aggressive finish, which is juicy and concentrated.

Fruit for this wine is sourced from nine rows of P58 clone chardonnay planted on East West rows directly outside the winery doors. Once harvested the fruit was whole bunch pressed to French oak barriques (50% new) with Indigenous yeast fermenting the un-clarified juice. Barrel maturation took place on lees over the next ten months during which the chardonnay was stirred fortnightly.

The wine expresses characters of lemon curd, glazed apricot Danish, ginger snap and orange blossom team with savoury underlying buckwheat, lanolin and toasty char complexity. These work in concert with a tactile calcareous interplay underpinning a silky pear-like texture. A lingering line of acidity provides the backbone but allows for the richness, weight and flavour, directing to a resounding and expansive finish. where body, flavour & palate weight co-exist with structure, texture and restrained acidity. Complex fruit characters of white nectarine, saffron, Pink Lady apple, chamomile flower, cashews and Leatherwood honey work in concert with a tactile interplay of chalk, silkiness and Beurre Bosc pear-like texture. Subtle acidity provides the backbone conveying the fruit and weight to a resounding finish.