The Compass Marsanne 2016
There’s the complex breakdown of lees giving texture and complexity, and a very slow oxidation ensures that you don’t rapidly lose primary fruit. Instead, the primary characters of pear, lemon zest, grapefruit, frangipani, and honeysuckle weave into the secondary fruit flavours of quince, bergamot, lemon curd, aniseed/chervil, and brioche, before some of the emerging tertiary characters of rancio, nuts, coffee, creme brulee, toffee, and blue cheese. All in all, delivering something of complexity and intrigue. The oxidation also means the wine is quite invincible. Quite remarkable.