“Those who dismiss the wines because of their apparent hyper-modern profile are missing out. This is not a winery that simply slaps new oak on all its wines to dress them up for maximum impact. Michel Tardieu (who works with Philippe Cambie) is a seriously committed vigneron with a penchant for locating excellent parcels of vines. He works with a mix of both traditional (varying the amount of destemming) and modern techniques (aging in new oak barrels) that lend the wines a density and clarity to their fruit without sacrificing their terroir.

Yes, they show a new oak influence when young, but during their lengthy élevage the reds are blended and then racked back into used oak, thus minimizing the overt influence of new barrels. The wines age well, with the wood treatment melding into the body of the wine to let a kaleidoscope of spice, fruit, toast and mineral notes develop together. In recent years, the lineup has really excelled-the 2006 portfolio earned outstanding marks for 13 of the 14 wines I reviewed. The 2007 lineup is potentially even better.”

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