November 1, 2022 - Prime drinking window. Dark purple with tawney hue. Very expressive on the opening, with saddle leather, clove, stewed blue fruits, vanilla. Grenache character coming through. Med to full bodied, with still grainy tannin giving tangible structure. Still 5-10 years ahead and should continue to develop tertiary character.
September 2, 2022 - Very good.
February 12, 2022 - This has now entered its drinking window nicely. Massive nose with dark, ripe berries, chocolate, coffee and leather. Nice balance on the palate with smooth tannins, good acidity, red berries and some chocolate. Very good!
May 1, 2021 - Lovely leathery complexity with a little (brett) bandaid layered on top, whilst there is still fruit in support. Tannins are faint, but give some nice definition to the finish, that has decent length.
For me this is a great time to drink this, and it might well go longer, but 10-12 years can be a decent benchmark to aim for.
April 3, 2020 - Tired/old. Glad it was my last bottle. A good ride.
November 2, 2019 - I usually drink Bastides a bit later but this is fine. Nose of dark fruit, tobacco, underwood, herbs and raw meat. Good balance, nice long tannins. I think you have to wait on Bastides, the ‘93 longue garde was magnificent at 15-20 yaers.
August 10, 2019 - SAQ N° 10887451 32$
Une superbe aubaine pour un grand Bandol rouge AMHA.
Un Bandol bien équilibré, épices bien affirmées, juste un peu animal.
J'adore.
**1/2
June 30, 2019 - It seems that 7 years have passed since my previous bottle of this. At that time I thought the wine was too young but with lots of potential, and actually I think it still needs a few more years. This is a rustic and powerful wine with high tannins. Licorice on the palate (slightly bitter), dark restrained fruits/berries and some herbs. Herbs and meat on the nose, and a whiff of alcohol pushing through. Really good, especially with food, but I think it will become even better with time.
April 6, 2019 - Multi hour decant, the nose is very bandol, with an expressive vegetal and dark fruit effort. The palate is well rounded and fairly full and shows forest floor, boysenberry and earth. This should get served at a slightly lower temperature, it helps the acidity step up a little to give it more body.
June 8, 2018 - Continuing to drink well