This is a predominantly Round & Fleshy wine, but it shares structural nuances of Tone & Backbone as described in the tasting note below.
Tasting Notes
Round and fleshy with ample tannins, there are flavors of blackberry fruit, followed by fresh wild herbs and violets. There’s smoke, black pepper, and leather on the persistent finish.
Body is the impression of a wines weight, density, or its ‘mouth-feel’. Some wines feel weighty, or full bodied, while others feel light bodied. Wine runs the gamut from light to full, with most falling somewhere in between.
TANNIN
Low
Subtle
Balanced
Pronounced
High
Tannin can range greatly in wine, but it is necessary to some degree, and a necessary constituent for red wines to age well. In high amounts, it can cause a drying affect, which is sensed mostly on the gums and tongue. Tannin is a natural preservative extracted from grape skins, otherwise known as polyphenols that are micronutrients and antioxidants with potential health benefits.
ACIDITY
Soft
Subtle
Balanced
Pronounced
High
Acidity is a foundational component in wine. In fact, low acidity, or ‘flabby’ wine (as the term suggests) is a negative. You can sense acidity mainly on the sides of your tongue. Acidity generally ranges from balanced to high. Crisp acidity adds freshness, making your mouth water. Acidity is a necessary element and helps to balance other components.
SWEETNESS
Dry
Off Dry
Medium Dry
Medium Sweet
Very Sweet
Most wines are characterized as dry to off-dry, but there are some grape varietals, like Riesling, that run the gamut from dry to sweet. The tip of the tongue mainly detects sweetness, which is why it is often the primary characteristic detected. Sweetness is derived from residual sugar that did not ferment into alcohol.
ALCOHOL
14%
Alcohol is the by-product of fermentation. Differing grape varieties have differing potential alcohol levels, but regardless warmer areas result in riper grapes resulting in higher alcohol. Alcohol level is an objective number, but its affect on its palate impression is largely determined with how well integrated and balanced it is with other components.
Grenache is widely planted throughout the world but some of the best expressions come from the southern Rhone, and in Spain’s Priorat. Grenache has small berries with thick grape skins resulting in dark, tannic wine in its youth combined with an almost ripe sweetness and elevated alcohol. Often part of a blend, Grenache offers a lot of fruit, spice, with floral and herbal notes.
Syrah
40%See-RA
Syrah is widely planted throughout the world, but that was not so until the late twentieth century when Syrah was principally grown in the Rhone Valley and, as Shiraz, in Australia. Stylistically, the Palate Character of Syrah can vary depending on ripeness from a rich Round & Fleshy, Tone & Backbone, to a Powerful & Extracted. The flavors and aromas can also vary with a dark, sometimes sweet, fruit character, varying amount of spice, floral, and earth, and smoke, and meaty aromas and flavors.
The Ogier family has had seven generations in Ampuis, but Michel Ogier was the first to decide to make wine from his grapes in 1983. His son Stépha would follow in his footsteps, joining the domaine in 1997 after studying oenology in Burgundy.
Stéphane has brought a Burgundian sensibility to Ogier’s style and approach, including manual or horse-driven plowing in the vineyard, a focus on individual terroir, and a style that seeks to balance intensity and elegance rather than sheer power.
In the last 20 years, the winery has expanded production from 15,000 to 300,000 bottles while building a state-of-the-art winery and continually striving for higher quality.
Blackberry
Fresh Wild Herbs
Leather
Organic
