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Tasting notes
The Grenache-dominated 2016 Harmonie (there’s 18% Mourvèdre and 14% Syrah) offers a Châteauneuf du Pape-like bouquet of blackberries, peppery herbs, tapenade, and plenty of smoky, meaty notes. Full-bodied, supple, and elegant, with terrific purity, it’s one of the best Rhône blends from Paso Robles out there. The big news at Guillaume Fabre’s Clos Solene is the purchase of a new estate, in the heart of the limestone hills on the west side of Paso Robles, that’s in the process of being renovated and replanted. The young vines here should go into production in the next couple of years, and now that Fabre has his own vines and estate, I expect the quality only to increase. As always, these wines are rich and concentrated, yet it’s the purity of fruit and seamless mouthfeels that set his wines apart. These don’t come cheap, but they deliver the goods.
Critic scores
Average Score
Jeb Dunnuck
Josh Raynolds
More reviews and scores
Opaque ruby. Highly perfumed cherry and black raspberry aromas are complemented by energetic floral and exotic spice nuances. Sappy, sweet and expansive in the mouth, offering densely packed red and dark berry flavors that become deeper and spicier as the wine open up. Stains the palate and shows impressive urgency on a long, floral-dominated finish framed by smooth, harmonious tannins.
A blend of 68% Grenache, 18% Mourvèdre and 14% Syrah, the 2016 Harmonie offers up an expressive bouquet of spicy cherries, orange rind and cracked black pepper. On the palate, it's full-bodied, concentrated and fine-grained but firm, with a taut, structured core and some saline stem tannins from the 30% whole clusters that were included during fermentation. Just bottled, the 2016 is a little reticent today, but I expect it to expatiate over the coming decade.
The Grenache-dominated 2016 Harmonie (there’s 18% Mourvèdre and 14% Syrah) offers a Châteauneuf du Pape-like bouquet of blackberries, peppery herbs, tapenade, and plenty of smoky, meaty notes. Full-bodied, supple, and elegant, with terrific purity, it’s one of the best Rhône blends from Paso Robles out there.
About the producer
Product details
Mourvedre/Monastrell/Mataro, Syrah / Shiraz, Grenache/ Garnacha
Red
Dry