2020 Clos Solene l'Insolent
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Tasting notes
The 2020 L'Insolent is a blend of 71% Cabernet Sauvignon, 20% Petit Verdot and 9% Cabernet Franc matured for 22 months in 80% new French oak. Opaque ruby purple, it has intense aromas of cassis, tobacco leaves, lilac, cedar and menthol with streaks of graphite. The full-bodied palate has detailed, mineral-driven fruits with an approachable, refreshing frame and long finish.
Critic scores
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James Suckling
Jeb Dunnuck
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Sweet redcurrants, olives and berries to the nose with some dried strawberry and licorice. Fine-grained and fresh on the palate with lovely poise and restraint. A good kick of fine tannins that linger to the finish. 71% cabernet sauvignon, 20% petit verdot and 9% cabernet franc. Drink or hold.
The 2020 L'Insolent (71% Cabernet Sauvignon, 20% Petit Verdot, and the rest Cabernet Sauvignon) reveals a dense purple hue to go with lots of pure cassis and blackberry fruits as well as notes of graphite, ground herbs, cedar, and tobacco. Powerful, concentrated, and tannic, with some chalky minerality on the palate, it's going to need short-term bottle age but has terrific purity as well as a great mid-palate. The tannins will need to be watched. Vigneron Guillaume Fabre continues to make brilliant wines under his Clos Solene label. While he’s planted numerous new vineyards on his estate, he also pulls fruit from Santa Maria and releases those wines under his Cuvee Jean bottlings.