14.5%abv, Paul Hobbs & Bertrand Gabriel Vigoroux, imported by Paul Hobbs Wines, Sebastapol, CA.
Paul Hobbs is making Malbec in France too? Geez, what’s next . . . Wait! It’s actually pretty good; actually, very good. The Crocus project (oddly named) might not sound delicious but I was pleasantly surprised by this tank-fermented and aged 100% Malbec wine from France’s often overlooked Southwest region. To dear Cahors we owe the greatness of Malbec and the legend of the French black wines. Hobb’s effort hails from hillside terraced vineyards and was hand-harvested. I am now curious to try the rest of the range, as the cuvée L’Atlier is just the entry level wine and the 2016 is drinking well.
It has a commanding deep purple color with a clean nose of medium intensity that delivers aromas of damson, ripe plum, blueberry, caraway, cinnamon stick and a hint of smoke. On the palate: this wine is dry with medium+ acid, medium+ body, medium+ alcohol, medium+ body, medium+ flavor intensity, medium+ tannins and has a medium finish with flavors of blueberry, mulberry, waxy red cherry, red plum, and bacon fat. There is a simply lovely core of fresh fruit here (maybe just a touch of tertiary crunch) and quite a decent finish and a nice framework of balance. Drink now; this wine is very good: 9.0/10