“Julien Fayard’s Beau Vigne label leans firmly into Rutherford terroir with the 2023 ‘Old Rutherford’ blend, built around a healthy core of Beckstoffer Georges III fruit, with grapes from select nearby parcels adding depth and complexity. This is a powerful red, driven by quite youthful, expressively juicy blackberry and blueberry fruit and framed by a bulwark of lavish, toasty oak that brings a chocolaty richness across the palate and accentuates the distinctly Rutherford-esque cocoa powder tannins and scorched earth notes. The finish is full-bodied, layered with smoked paprika notes and a chalky, pulverised graphite mineral edge.”