2009 Domaine du Vissoux (Pierre Chermette) Fleurie Les Garants

 The later-arriving 2009 Fleurie “Les Garants” from Pierre-Marie Chermette was very much worth the wait, as this is a brilliant bottle of Fleurie in the making. The bouquet is deep, pure and utterly stunning, as it soars from the glass in a blaze of cassis, black cherries, vinesmoke, a touch of espresso, gentle notes of currant leaf, a whiff of cinnamon and a great base of soil. On the palate the wine is deep, full-bodied and quite plush on the attack, with stunning transparency down to the soil (and a very soil-driven personality for Fleurie!), a bit of ripe tannin, superb focus and grip and a very, very long, complex and seriously structured finish. This great bottle of Fleurie will have no difficulties aging thirty to forty years! 2010-2040+. View from the Cellar: 95.

Like his other wines of the vintage, Chermette’s 2009 Fleurie Les Garants – from lower down than Poncie and with southwestern inclination, but essentially the same soil – lacks the dark color that marks so many 2009s. Scents of fresh blackberry and purple plum adumbrate a generously juicy palate with a vivid sense of fruit pit and berry seed. The Poncie is cooler in personality though still full of energy, whereas the Les Garants is richer on the palate and more overtly (in this case black-) fruited. A pungent smokiness and tactile sense of stony underlying minerality characterize this wine’s positively gripping finish, and as it opens, elusive hints of spice and further minerality emerge. I would plan on following this outstanding value for half a dozen years, if not longer. Wine Advocate: 92.