Community Tasting Note
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Decanting Queen wrote: 93 points
June 5, 2021 - I knew this was too young to enjoy, and that I probably would not like it, but curiosity got the best of me.
I deliberately tasted at different points over 6 hours, and it was at its best by the end. Put the last half bottle in a 375 for tonight—I would be shocked if it has fallen apart as it seemed to still be opening up and changing at the end of the night last night.
On PnP dark inky and purple. Very little aroma, maybe some reticent fruit and hints of something chalky. Bigger on the palate, some darker fruit, minerals, mouth filling, but a slight metal note on the palate that was not pleasant.
After 60 min decant much more drinkable. The metal note is gone. More aroma—floral, berries, hints of green herbs, hints of tobacco. Lingering finish and mouth coating tannins.
Fast forward to the last glass of the night—Now very open, dark berries, cassis, tobacco, graphite, plenty of tannin and acid. This was drinkable and good, but unmistakeable a ‘too young’ 2018. I believe and I hope this will evolve over the years, open up and integrate more. For now there is something still missing, perhaps it is what other reviewers have referred to as the plush velvetiness. When I drink this wine I am still thinking about the components and trying to figure it out, it is missing that integrated plushness to make me think ‘wow.’10 people found this helpful 9,129 views
18 Comments
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AGELVIS commented:
6/6/21, 6:38 AM - Thank you for the thorough review Jen. I’ll try my best to wait 6-12 more months and use a 4-6 hour decant.
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Mark1npt commented:
6/6/21, 8:22 AM - very good note, Jen. I think you could plug this note into many of the young '18s right now. They are all out of balance in some way and need time to 'come together' Imo......I still might try one this summer though. It's changed so much from 6 months ago, maybe in 3 more we'll see something different?
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LiteItOnFire commented:
6/6/21, 12:31 PM - Thank you for the note- seems like these like most others need a mid term (2-3 year nap).
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Decanting Queen commented:
6/7/21, 2:58 AM - Definitely in need of a nap. Day 2 a bit more open, lots of chalk and candied fruit on the nose this time. But if you have opened other ‘18s that aren’t ready then you know the story, there is no reason to open one of these yet.
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LiteItOnFire commented:
6/7/21, 2:59 AM - Thank you
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lockestep commented:
6/8/21, 3:13 PM - Thanks for taking one for the team.
I know that a number of the comments spoke of short-term cellaring but if you can I would try to go longer. To my taste a complex blend like this (40+ sources) need at least five years and hit the sweet spot at 10. At any rate, hope you enjoy. -
Mark1npt commented:
6/8/21, 3:39 PM - lockestep......isn't that 40 chances for this wine to become disjointed or get out of balance???
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lockestep commented:
6/9/21, 1:35 PM - Mark - not if the winemaking team knows what they are doing. Even single-sourced wines go through an assembly process. Look up some of the videos of the Ridge team assembling Monte Bello, as they select different barrels for different characteristics.
Same thing here, just using different barrels from different vineyards. In both wines they are relying on time to integrate the different parts into a final product better than on Day 1. -
Mark1npt commented:
6/9/21, 2:50 PM - locke....sure, I get it....and I know a lot of winemakers who blend 3, 5, maybe 9 vineyards, 3-4 types of fruit......but 40 sources? That's kinda nuts and I have a hard time believing even Stephen Hawking's astral physics brain could negotiate a blend that all 40 worked harmoniously together in, ESPECIALLY over time......at the point where you have 40 sources splashed together to make a wine, I think you're just going for bulk production. Just my honest opinion fwiw.....
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LiteItOnFire commented:
6/9/21, 7:07 PM - Mark- agree. It would be different if it was 40 lots controlled by them, same vineyard manager, etc etc.
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Mark1npt commented:
6/9/21, 7:38 PM - Lite, even then, I just find it hard to believe that you can make 40 sources play well together in some perfectly orchestrated symphony of pre-planned excellence that you can make come together magically and happen 10 years down the road. Yes, I think these guys know good grapes and bad grapes and know when to leave the bad grapes out. Beyond that, I just think he's blending all the leftover grapes from his other blends together, the ones he knows will play well together to make an extra 10,000 cases of this very pleasant drinker.
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LiteItOnFire commented:
6/9/21, 11:15 PM - Mark- we are saying the same thing. I was embellishing a bit - it’s why I stopped buying realm the past few vintages.
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Mark1npt commented:
6/10/21, 7:38 AM - Yes, we are! Great minds think alike.
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Decanting Queen commented:
6/15/21, 3:51 AM - I say blend away. It is almost always damn good stuff.
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Mark1npt commented:
6/15/21, 6:23 AM - I agree with you Jen...blend away! It's great juice at a nice price. I don't care how many sources he uses for his fruit....but the notion that one can hand select 40 different sources and know for a 'fact' what each and every one will do, interacting with eachother, now and 10 years down the road, is just folly.
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lockestep commented:
6/15/21, 6:41 AM - Mark, you are being disingenuous here by putting quotes around “fact” -no one in this discussion said it was a certainty that any particular wine would be better with age. Just that past experience has shown fine wines built this way have indeed improved with age.
Fun fact: Mouton-Rothschild is assembled from over 60 different vats, with the fruit from different sections of the vineyards separated to enhance the individual character of those sections. Then the wine is blended to assemble the final product.
Anxiously awaiting your list of Moutons that failed to improve with age. -
Mark1npt commented:
6/15/21, 7:02 AM - locke, I'm not being disingenuous, at all. I stand by my comments. I think there's some confusion about aging vs 'knowing' what each wine will turn into as it ages. It's one thing for Mouton to take 60 different rows or parcels of THEIR OWN tightly controlled and managed fruit and assemble a wine....and a completely different thing altogether for Bevan to 'source' grapes from 40 different sources and assemble a wine. Yes, he probably has some hint of how those 40 sources will play together and age, but there is no sure and definite plan, detailing every nuance of all 40 sources. Nobody has that kind of knowledge available to them when 'sourcing', especially. We can agree to disagree. He makes nice wines, I buy them and I drink them. But in the end, the entry level blend is a 'generalization' concept that plays well together, most years and performs well for the price point.
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Mark1npt commented:
6/15/21, 11:06 AM - Meant to say Benoit, not Bevan. Tbf......