Domaine du Mortier, Dionysos, St-Nicolas-de-Bourgueil, 2016

Domaine du Mortier is located in St-Nicolas de Bourgueil in the Loire Valley, a 13ha estate run by brothers Fabien and Cyril Boisard who initially had no formal winemaking experience! Dionysos is their ‘flagship’ wine, or top cuvée, using 30- to 50-year-old vines which are grown on gravel soils, producing a yield of 40hl/ha. Wines are produced through spontaneous fermentation with indigenous yeasts, aged in minimum third-use oak, and a little sulphur dioxide is added only prior to bottling. The Dionysos 2016 was aged for 15 months in barrel. Jim Budd: This is a densely coloured wine, with seductive texture, mouthfilling red and black fruits, lovely balance and oak adding complexity. Good potential to age – one for the cellar. Chris Kissack: A dark and restrained nose to this glossy, crimson-rimmed wine. The palate is textured, complete, correct, with primary and restrained fruit, countered by a ripe wrapping of finessed tannins and fresh acidity. Very youthful, but very composed and competent, with great potential. Lots of tannic substance here to keep this alive, and the oak which shows through a little here will be no problem in time. Top stuff. Ben Llewelyn: A dark, very brooding style. Fully formed fruit, lovely tannins and a los of guts to help it along in the finish. This is showy now, but will become refined with age.