La Perle Rare Jones Syrah, Vin de France, 2018

Deep in colour, this Syrah has intense aromas of dark fruit and oak, smoke with a hint of tobacco and great depth. It is supple and smooth with woodlands character and a long smoky finish. Syrah grapes came from a single vineyard planted by Katie's husband Jean-Marc in 2009. The vines planted were from a “massal selection” replanting new vineyards with cuttings from exceptional old vines) done in Côte-Rôtie in the northern Rhône – you can’t get more pedigree than that. Planted close to the village of Tuchan on chalky clay and schist soils, the vines produce low yields of loose bunches. These were picked and fermented on skins for five weeks then aged for 24 months in new French oak barrels.