2020 Château de Montfaucon "Baron Louis" Lirac

Dense and delicious, with a hint of chewiness to the otherwise silky palate, filled with earth, tobacco, ganache and plum, all flecked with lavender high tones. Salty, racy acidity cuts through as the concentration builds and sandalwood smoke wafts through. A full-throttled, delicious red, with all cylinders firing. Grenache, Syrah, Cinsault, Carignan and Mourvèdre. (KB)

The Baron Louis has been one of the great wines year after year from Montfaucon. Always a late release, the 2020 has just hit our shores and is firing on all cylinders. We often compare Lirac to Châteauneuf-du-Pape. The two regions sit across the Rhône River from one another and share many of the same soil types, but I have always found something distinctly different in Lirac. There is a more briary quality to the wines, with darker fruit, a savory undertone and a little more of that woodsy garrigue character lurking in the background. Working with Montfaucon for more than two decades has been a real treat, and the 2020 Baron Louis is everything I look for in Rudi's wines. Brambly blackberry, tobacco, garrigue and a hint of smoked meat lead into a finish of rich currant jam. It isn't quite as lipsmacking and opulent as Châteauneuf, but it is every bit as compelling. That's exactly what I like about Lirac and Rudi's take on the region. Gone are the days when these wines felt like they were trying to emulate their more famous neighbor. This is pure Lirac, made by someone we consider a dear friend and one of the region's top producers. Baron Louis remains a shining star in our Direct Import portfolio, and the 2020 is delicious now but absolutely worth discovering again after another few years in the cellar.