2021 Domaine Méo-Camuzet Richebourg Grand Cru

The Méo-Camuzet Richebourg showed abundant, silky sweet fruit in the 2021 vintage, with notes of pomegranate and raspberry, a hint of mineral and some smoke. It is a very pretty wine on the initial attack, and the wine is balanced and elegant. Méo has switched his oak program up: he dries the staves for three years and uses light toast almost everywhere. The effect is very elegant, even if here I can’t help feeling that it lacks a bit of substance in comparison to previous vintages, and that it will be ready to drink sooner than some. (CC)

Note: from a .37 ha parcel in Les Véroilles of 60+ year old vines save for a very tiny parcel in Richebourg proper. This is also quite restrained and requires aggressive swirling to reveal the gorgeously spicy and beautifully layered nose of cool but ripe aromas of violets, plum and exotic tea. Here too there is impressive volume to the full-bodied and opulently rich mineral-driven flavors that are blessed with a similar abundance of mouth coating sap that imparts a velvety mouthfeel and buffers the very firm tannic spine supporting the strikingly long and balanced finish. This muscular effort is terrific though like the Cros Parantoux, a wine that is going to need extended patience. *Burghound Don't Miss!*