With the Ohanas at Zi’s for the annual CNY gathering.

No decanting.

In the glass: bright ruby with light body.

On the nose: fresh of the bottle it was a noticeable waft of vanilla and oak. A rich red cherry.

On the palate: I was actually super surprised at how bone dry this wine was, given that the nose was a rich sweet red fruit. Mid- acidity. Distinct cranberry on exhale. As the wine breathed, the vanilla and oak faded into the background, and raspberry emerged. Interestingly, I also detect a certain stemminess to it which was quite persistent, although not necessarily in a bad way.

Funny enough… and it’s not often I say this: I wish there was just a touch of residual sugar in the wine. The palate was just so jarringly dry that it felt a bit incongruent with the nose. Also very surprised at how low the acidity was on this wine. I wonder if 2021 was perhaps an off vintage somehow. The nose was really solid though.