Nose: I’m not typically in love at first sniff, but dannng, domaine whose name I can’t read because vincent handwriting is illegible, I might love you. Mom and I used to make plum butter every year from the orchard. We would take the plum acidity and sweetness, layer in baking spices and then concentrate and then concentrate until we have a spread fit for the gods. We would make so much and you can only eat it so quickly, that I recently had a debate with mom about expiration date. This isn’t a distillate or a wine, a 1998 plum butter vintage is quite suspect. Still smelled amazing though but I was too scared to try it out. The dutch might consider themselves the licorice maestros, and it is hard to argue given how much amazeballs salted licorice my mom used to drag home from business trips. But when dad started traveling to Australia for his eucalyptus research, he began to bring home a whole different take on licorice. Soft, chewy and rich flavors, layered both anise and licorice root oils. On mouthfeel they take the crown. But they also had a rich and decadent smell no other style has ever produced. There is so much more but I want to dive into the palate, so brain dump style: toasted pecans, dry oak right as I place it in the fire before it burst into flame, cassis concentrate, oyster mushroom, dr pepper at the bottom of my glass after it has dried.

Palate: I’ve been titillated by tart lately. Wood forward. And while on the first sip that is all I found, I reached for a bigger draw and flavors cascaded onwards. Maybe a lower abv? Definitely plum. Kind of reminds me of the higher abv Capreolus damson EDV we tried with Barney. Earl gray, hot. Bergamot and black tea. Licorice root. An adult tootsie roll. And something intensely floral that I can’t quite pin down.

Rating: 6 / 10 – top notch sniff, and a woody wood wood palate with tiny bursts of sweetness. Which I personally quite enjoy but might only appeal to those oak munchers. Hard to say. Wish I knew the ABV.