Faro Palari 1996

When it was released it seemed like a small miracle. The comparison that immediately sprang to mind was with certain great Châteauneuf-du-Papes, the famous reds from near Avignon. Tasting it today, it is just starting to crack up a little, but this certainly doesn’t invalidate its finer qualities. Its colour is a medium-deep garnet, with an orangey rim. Its scents are broad and complex, with smoky notes in the foreground that lead into nuances of tobacco (with very slight animal-like tones) and then of liquorice and glutamate. The flavour is full-bodied and warming, but well sustained by brackish acidity. The finish is long but also with a faint bitterness.

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