(91-92)/100
The first of its kind, Hecht & Bannier’s 2009 Maury is distinguished for lower residual sugar (62 grams) than usually found in vintage wines of its appellation. As the authors point out, it is possible to achieve a balance between sweetness and tannin and at the same time retain an element of fresh fruit vivacity, and this wine certainly walks their talk. Vivid concentration of black raspberry is allied with subtle vanilla, cocoa powder, and brown spices in aromatic alliance with heliotrope, buddleia, and fruit distillates, and on a palate lush, even voluptuous, yet buoyant, juicy, and almost compulsively enticing the next sip. Once again this team has shown that they aren’t going to play the game if they can’t play in the same league with an appellation’s front-runners. This beauty should turn heads at the table over the next few years.
