Domaine Naturaliste Rebus Cabernet Sauvignon 2022

There’s no spice rack of Malbec, Merlot and friends here. 100% Cabernet from 24-year-old vines matured for a full year in 35% new oak. It is still shy but oh so stunning. Fragrant and heady, a spiced, woody note frames the fruit with incense of frankincense and myrrh. This is pure Cabernet with lashings of blackcurrant, ribbon-like tannins and oodles of fruit on a bed of oak. The oak, firmly a support act, not the show’s star. There’s a fluidity of motion, whirring around firm, ripe and fine-grained tannins. It’s early days, but they already leave the impression of melting onto the palate while the long, lithe line of acid retains its poise. This has it all: it’s juicy and firm, generous while upholding tension. Potpourri and graphite pencil, sumac, dried rose petals, rushed black fruit, salted plum, crackling nori and jet black, fertile soil laced with crushed gravel. There’s a freshness of fruit, too – boysenberry and lingonberry, raspberry juice finished with a lick of black olive flesh. A wine of its place with so much going on in its youth and much more to come as it matures.