What a beautiful wine here, a real Southern Rhône charmer. The Lirac 2009 Clos de Sixte is a blend of 50% Grenache, 35% Syrah and 15% Mourvedre, its smell like a Châteauneuf-du-Pape yet very approachable right now. On the nose, I definitely get the Grenache aromas, ripe raspberry, wild strawberry, violets, savoury spices and loads of licorice. Medium to full body with alcohol coming in at 15%, but this wine is so well balanced the alcohol is barely noticeable, the acidity is crisp with silky tannins. The wine finish is long, spicy with strawberry jam flavours and lots of licorice. This wine just blew me away, so well balanced with great aromatics and how spicy, fresh and lively the mouthfeel was. Great value and strongly recommended.

Still alcoholic, but well integrated. On it's downward trajectory, with youthful jam and fat replaced by mature funky but enjoyable complexity and a touch of oxidation