Château La Dournie, Etienne, St-Chinian, 2014

Another very dark wine, this blend of 60% Syrah, with 25% Grenache and the balance from Carignan, is also grown on Dournie’s schist soils. The wine gets a year in larger 400 litre casks and a year in tank, and has previously been a Silver Medal winner at Decanter’s World Wine Awards. It's enticingly mellow, with earthy scents built around a core of liquorice-spiced plum compote, while on the palate too it's a deep, spicy, rich, dense and long-flavoured wine in exuberant style. There’s impressive density of fruit and perfume here, supported by finely buffed tannins. Terrific value.