"I had only previously tasted one previous vintage of the la Madone single vineyard bottling from Château de Fleurie, which was their 2011 version, back when I was visiting the estate back in the spring of 2018. Eighty percent of this bottling is raised in foudres and the other twenty percent in cement tanks. The 2023 version is truly a stunning young bottle of Fleurie, delivering a superb aromatic constellation of black cherries, sweet dark berries, a nice touch of whole clusters, a complex base of dark soil tones, pigeon, woodsmoke, coffee bean and a topnote of violet. On the palate the wine is pure, full-bodied, precise and shows off superb depth of fruit at the core, with fine soil signature and grip, ripe, seamlessly integrated tannins, lovely balance and a long, complex and vibrant finish. I would opt to give this excellent Fleurie at least four or five years in the cellar to soften up its undercarriage of tannin a bit more and to allow its complexity to truly blossom. It is an outstanding bottle of Fleurie in the making and will be a long distance runner"