l'opéra des vins Prélude

Unexpected gem. Robinot's often a gamble - one bottle's merely okay whilst another's brilliant - so I opened this with zero expectations. Blown away. Among the best Robinot bottles I've ever had, though opened too early unfortunately. One problem: the nose is buried under a thick layer of VA that's genuinely hard to dig through. But the palate? Beautiful. Perfect tension, concentration and focus. Raspberries, blackberries, fresh tobacco leaf layered with peppery mineral notes. Long, complex, utterly delicious. There's elegance here, but with transparency and vibrancy rather than weight. This is special.