Chateau D'Aydie Famille Laplace Pacherenc du Vic Bilh Sec, 'Ode d'Aydie' Pacherenc du Vic Bilh 2021 (14% ABV) – 89.7
SB | Reticent white-peach nose, not very expressive. Fresh attack, lively and nimble, with sufficient acidity to carry the wine. It's not complex or profound, but doesn't need to be. A bit more energy and vigor would be welcome, but the fruit is enjoyable and ripe without losing grip. Quite long. 89
AJ | Bright gold with silver glints. A more overt aromatic profile, with some of the grassy-musky freshness that you find further north in Côtes de Gascogne; a touch of sweaty thiol, too. But all sketched out subtly enough, and it makes for an attractive scent overall. You want to sip! The most flamboyant and crowd-pleasing of these Pacherenc 21s, and the wild bittersweet edge of the varieties is developed well here. Lots of preserved lemon and orange zest in a soft, juicy, almost mouthwatering palate with a leafy finish. 89
SR | This 2021 starts very elegant and intensely fruity on the nose, a ripe and stewed (pear)-fruit aroma intertwined with discreet caramel and also flinty, saline and savory notes of seeds. On the palate, this is a full-bodied, very elegant, dense and juicy but also finely tannic and saline, yet most of all vital and quite finessed, Pacherenc, which is not far from a Jurançon. 91