Palate
A study in balance and brinksmanship, the 2015 INEO is at first intense, concentrated and decidedly pungent, but with a gentle swirl and some pause, it pivots and extends, like a ballerina pirouetting on pointe. The dense, dark berried fruit core revolves to reveal ribbons of red, specs of hard candy and a flourish of herbal lift. This wine glides over the palate with a seductive and succulent embrace, its deft texture softening the otherwise ample structure and pulls through the smooth exit towards a stylish finish.
Growing Conditions
2015 was yet another superb growing season despite some of the challenges we faced with periods of high heat and low humidity. Another warm and dry winter lead to what is becoming the normal ‘early’ budbreak that was primed and boosted by fortuitously timed February rains. The return to warm and dry early spring pushed us through flower and fruit set before the cool spell that affected others, so we saw healthy and normal yields. Then the heat train returned and was indeed full steam ahead throughout the summer, accelerating ripeness and maturity to give us the earliest harvest in the last 12 years.
Aging
21 months 100% French: 100% new
