Domaine de la Haute Olive 'Le Chêne Vert' Chinon AOC 2020

The vineyard called ‘Le chêne vert’ takes its name from a venerable, solitary oak that keeps watch over the locale known as La haute olive. Though the site is closely associated with well-known vigneron Charles Joguet, the Domaine de la Haute Olive also maintains a very small vineyard there. Their version offers mellowness and tension in equal measure; this is Chinon in a cozy fall sweater. Fermented in concrete and aged for ten months in new foudre, it opens with hints of cinnamon and roasted red pepper. Ample red fruit follows on the palate, with just enough tannin to structure a spicy, unsweetened chocolate kind of finish. Organically grown.