Rotem & Mounir Saouma, Inopia, Côtes du Rhône Villages, 2015

A modern Côtes du Rhône in approach and execution. The fruit is fermented then matured for 18 months in a variety of vessels, including 500l casks and concrete eggs. The final blend is bottled unfiltered and unfined. A silky, focussed wine brimming with hedgerow fruit, lavender, cherry blossom and summer pudding. Succulent!

Distinctly reductive, decanting is essential as this opens up after a couple of hours. Still quite introverted on the nose, but shows graphite and flowers with time, prior to a much more intense and searching palate, delivering real freshness, even if the wine is in something of a dumb phase at the time of drinking. I would hold on to this until 2021/2022 before opening.