October 1, 2022 - Corked. Nothing like aging a wine for 25 years and finding out its been ruined for 25 years. Oh well.
June 24, 2022 - Went out to a local restaurant, (Hummingbird Way) with my wife, son and his girlfriend.
I started with a Sazerac, then we shared a bottle of champagne off the list. Threw this one in the ice bucket for about 10 minutes as it's just plain hot down here and the a/c's can't keep up and this one was out of the cellar for a few days.
1997 Trevor Jones Wild Witch. The top of the bottle had a chip from a fall, but still remained intact and sealed. Cork in great shape only minimal staining. This wine was always a bit more restrained than the 1996 which lived up to the Wild Witch name. It has smooth round tannins a mellow dark fruit and a mineral quality that one gets with Shiraz. There are some asian spices along with that minerality that gives the wine a very savory finish. Very much enjoyed by everyone at the table.
Dishes were a salad of Brillat de Savarin, golden beets, bresaola. A soup of morels, squash blossoms and lump crab.
Then a whole fried red snapper with curry and peanuts, Blackened Amberjack and Jambalaya, Rabbit with grits and ratatouille and a 24 oz dry aged NY Strip with roasted root vegetables.
August 2, 2021 - Have had this wine a number of times, starting to fade, cedar, still some fruit, currants, mint, more like an old cab than a shiraz
February 3, 2018 - Another Saturday at Chevalier...Mostly Blind (Chicago, IL): Tasted blind. Jammy start, but still nicely fresh. Softer middle, easy landing. Not much nuance, but fun.
February 3, 2018 - Blind Syrahs at Chevalier (Chicago, IL): Served blind. Once upon a time, this was totally my cup of tea. Aromas of polished ripe black fruit with some black pepper. Ripe and round on the palate with good fresh acids. And some interesting meat and pepper notes. But the fruit is just a bit too sweet and candied. New world, for sure.
February 3, 2013 - Garnet. Nose with a hint of mint,berries, pepper. Taste was mellow, medium weight, short finish.
December 20, 2010 - slightly corked nose. Pisser. Deep rich smooth taste.
December 5, 2010 - Has held up better than the 1996. I hadn't expected such a massive wine to survive 13 years of aging, but it's still quite nice. The savage tannins and big fruit have calmed down and the effect is very reminiscent of crozes-hermitage.
May 5, 2009 - nose: big cedary and oak tones right off the bat that kind of get in the way of the notes at first. As it opens a bit, the oak scales back and rich tones of blackberries, anise, black cherries, and spices come up, but the oak is still there. Comes across as a bit of a tamed bully on the nose
taste: good body to this with a spicy based attack of black cherries, oak, anise, black berries and dark berry tones. Good medium feel with resolved tannins
overall: in perfect drinking shape right now. The oak intereferes with the nose a bit much for me, as this wine is almost at the cusp. Still an enjoyable drink and made extra fun for the fact that it is a 11 yr old shiraz if anything to learn how they age.
April 8, 2009 - Passover visit to Mom's house. Still dark purple in the glass and still a big and brooding wine. Gobs of dark fruit mixed with some fading tannins. Well balanced. Should drink well for about 5 more years. 50+12+12+8+8 = 90