Domaine de Bargylus Vin Blanc Grand Vin de Syrie – 2017

This blend of 50% Chardonnay and 50% Sauvignon Blanc is quite unique and has an amazing capacity to age!

It was grown on limestone and silex soils at high altitude (between 900-1200mts) on the slopes of Mount Ansariah in northern Syria, looking down over the Mediterranean Sea to the west.

The nose is elegant, delivering notes of lemon, blood orange and white flowers. On the palate there is excellent acidity, minerality, body and “fat”, with stone fruit underpinned with nuts and honey. Its structure, balance, acidity and fruit should allow the wine to develop in complexity for several years after its release.

“Blend of Chardonnay and Sauvignon Blanc that has such an admirable structure that it tastes as though it had been oak aged. It wasn’t. It well justifies the producer’s claim that it ages well. A milder and briefer winter than the previous vintage was followed by uncharacteristically high spring temperatures and then a moderately warm summer. Sea breezes cooled night-time temperatures. Harvest lasted from 4 September to 4 October.

A beautifully balanced wine from war-torn Syria that is still in its prime at seven years old. It certainly doesn’t taste as though it comes from a hot region, and is grown on hillsides inland from Lattakia, Antioch in biblical times, exposed to maritime influences (the producer finds iodine in most vintages). The Sauvignon is the dominant ingredient on the nose but far from aggressively so.” 17.5/20pts Jancis Robinson MW