Fontodi, Flaccianello della Pieve Vintage:2019 The La Tour Blanche 2001

The La Tour Blanche 2001 has long been the insiders Sauternes for the vintage

sweet and rounded

The most dominant component part of Chaves red Hermitage comes from Les Bessards

dark fruit

I suspect one will emerge from the different lots of Les Bessards that I tasted as 2009 is certainly a year where enough wine can be culled out for the Cathelin without sacrificing the monumental quality of the regular Hermitage

Fontodi, Flaccianello della Pieve Vintage:2019 The La Tour Blanche 2001The 2011 and 2012 vintages are close cousins, with the 2011 Flaccianello della Pieve appearing a bit softer and plumper around the midsection. This was a notoriously warm vintage that saw sugar and phenolic ripeness shoot up very quickly at the end of the growing season. Indeed, this wine produces a noticeable level of sweetness on the finish, all surrounded by jammy flavors of cherry confit and blackberry marmalade. My observation is that this 2011