The complex smoky nose (think smoked bacon!) pulls you into this remarkably rich and structured wine for the 2021 vintage. Excellent interplay of ripe sour cherry fruit, generous fine tannins and moderate acidity. The finish is still quite firm and smoky, and it needs more time in bottle to fully resolve. A selection of the best grapes from many different parcels. It spends 12 months in small oak from Burgundian coopers, of which just 10% are new. Drinkable now, but best from 2025.

The 2021 Côte de Brouilly Cuvée Zaccharie is a selection made in the winery, just after pressing and at bottling. It has a lovely bouquet, perhaps the most complete in this vintage. The energetic, harmonious red fruit is tinged with clove, brown spices and morels, the 10% new oak just binding everything together. The palate is medium-bodied with sappy red fruit and lovely balance, remaining pliant and quite focused with a graphite-tinged, precise finish. Excellent. -- Neal Martin