Community Tasting Note

• Ex-Ray Likes this wine: 96 points

  February 9, 2024 - Brick-ruby color, amber edges, showing its almost 19 year age. Moderately viscous and quite translucent. Pronounced aroma of almost pure cassis, with some plums but no herbal or barnyard components. On the palate surprisingly soft and round, medium body, cassis flavors, elegant. I expected a bigger, much more concentrated flavor. There is no tannin left. The aftertaste is medium length. Overall excellent, but a bit of a disappointment from what I expected. I will try one of the two remaining bottles to see if it is the same. If so, it's time to drink up. It will also be interesting to try 2005 The Ark for comparison.
  Addendum: 6 hours after opening it opened up considerably. The aroma developed some French oak and the wine was fuller bodied, with a longer aftertaste. The following evening it was definitely darker, which may have been from some sediment. Aroma and flavor were more pronounced cassis and plum, with more prominent tannins. French oak was now more evident. The aftertaste was much longer and a bit hot.
  This was an excellent example of a wine changing over 24 hours, becoming darker and richer. For our next bottle I will open and decant it the morning of our dinner. My score increased from 91 last night to 96 tonight.
  Ric

  2 people found this helpful 513 views

Add a Comment