Gamay, “La Mourzière”, Les Coteaux de Sierre, Valais

Ethereal and beautiful in the glass, a translucent and gently coppery pale red, with more lightness and clarity than this variety often shows. Aromatically speaking, it’s completely intoxicating—the purest and most vivid ripe-strawberry, with glimmers of white pepper and Indian spices. The palate is seamless, with the strawberry theme echoing—actually, it’s very much like biting into that elusive Perfect Strawberry, where the acid is bright and clean and the fruit is ripe and succulent, and the whole thing is just so impossibly delicious that you just know, at the moment you’re eating it: fruit doesn’t get any better than this. The tannins are all but nonexistent, and the wine is a delicate dance of acid, limestone power, and fruit perfection.