Domaine Lafage Fundació

Bottled under the Famille Lafage label, the 2018 Côtes du Roussillon Villages Fundacio is 65% Syrah (from Maury), 25% Grenache and 10% Mourvèdre, aged 19 months in barriques (70% new). It's certainly sexy oak, loaded with vanilla and baking spices, yet it allows the dark fruit and peppery notes to shine through on the full-bodied palate. Rich, concentrated and backed by waves of supple tannins, this is a voluptuous, modern-style wine that manages to finish on a savory note and deliver ample complexity despite the massive fruit.

Naughty heavy bottle. Deeply savoury, umami, beefy-rich, dark-red fruit. Black-pepper lift and chocolate ganache. Muscular breadth of shoulder – the whole impression of the wine is of muscular strength, stature, a verticality, the sense I get when standing at the bottom of a towering statue and looking up and up and up. And yet the wine is imbued with freshness, and even in the intensity of its savouriness it is not stolid or heavy. Holds its alcohol well. Well done, Lafage.

Aromas of mulberries, dark plums, tapenade, smoke and undergrowth. Full-bodied with sleek tannins. Rustic, smoky and earthy. Delicious finish. Drink or hold.