Chateau de Fonsalette Cotes du Rhone Cuvée Syrah 2007

93+/100 - Component #1, from a classic galets roules (rounded stones) vineyard: Pungent cherry and garrigue aromas are expansive and subtly smoky. Very rich, with creamy cherry and dark berry flavors, gently chewy texture and a late note of cracked pepper. Component #2, from sandy soil only meters from the galets site: Intensely perfumed bouquet of red and dark berries, violet, minerals and cola. Supple red berry flavors are impressively precise, with a strong mineral undercurrent. - Josh Raynolds, Vinous 

18/20 - Two lots here, the first from galets roulés, the big stones, on red soils. It smelt very much of Syrah but markedly less concentrated than the red Rayas 2007 served immediately before it. Polished, subtle, full of energy and explosive and sinewy in the mouth. The second sample came from deep sandy soils and was darker in colour and much more obviously tannic. This will need much more time than the regular cuvée. Definitely made of sterner, and possibly less distinctive, stuff but there is impressive muscle. - Jancis Robinson MW