Château Rol Valentin

The 2016 Rol Valentin has a medium to deep garnet-purple color and offers up straight-laced, serious notions of fragrant earth, cigar box and sautéed herbs over a core of warm plums, mulberries and blueberry preserves. Medium to full-bodied, the palate is completely packed with muscular fruit, with a firm, grainy texture and loads of freshness, finishing long and berry laced.

Tasted blind. Youthful, aromatic with lots of both fruit and tannin that is still far from resolved but the ingredients are there. Just not that distinctive.

This has attractive plum pastry and blueberries on the nose, leading to a very nicely carved palate that has fine but sturdy tannins and good depth of ripe plum and mulberry flavors. Try from 2022.