Stark-Conde The Field Blend 2022

The 2022 Field Blend combines white Rhone varieties, mainly barrel-fermented with a little aged in concrete egg and stainless steel. The generous bouquet has yellow fruit, lanolin and a bit of crushed stone. Nicely focused - this is classy, like the previous vintage. It also offers touches of peach skin, melted candle wax and red apples on the nose - well defined. The palate is well-balanced with a fresh entry, quite taut and focused, with a nice salinity coming through on a persistent finish. It's slightly more restrained than the 2021, but it's one of Stark-Conde's best cuvees. Recommended.

The 2022 The Field Blend is a co-fermented blend of 58% Roussanne, 19% Chenin Blanc, 16% Viognier and 7% Verdelho. It offers delightful floral notes with pomaceous and citrus character. Medium-bodied and with 13% alcohol, the palate offers a kiss of phenolic bitterness with notes of petrichor and white spices before displaying an open-knit and ready-for-consumption finish. Just under 12,000 bottles were produced after the wine aged for eight months after seeing a mix of oak, concrete egg, amphora and tank.