Tasting Note This pours brilliant ruby and deep — almost shockingly deep — ruby. The nose is a beautiful thing and textbook franc, with raspberry/red plum, violet, sweet hay, fine herbs and considerable oak resin and graphite. I got a roasted coffee/chocolate note as well. It is medium-full bodied with great texture and precision. Fairly smooth and dense and refined with a touch of franc greenness on the finish. Excellent length. Needs three to five years, could last a decade. The 2016 from a similarly hot year had matured into a classic, with very similar raspberry and floral aromas showing some leather and meatiness.

Backgrounder David’s Block was established in 1998 on clay-loam soils and has been farmed organically ever since. The yields are consistently quite low with concentrated fruit, and this tendency was complemented by a very small selection. The 2022 vintage was one the warmest of the decade to date, bringing full ripening and concentration. It was fermented on skins for over three weeks before being pressed and transferred to French oak barrels, where it was aged for 18 months.