March 3, 2023 - Last and possibly best bottle of the 6 consumed over many years. The old adage about white CNdP have two drinking windows appears to hold here. The oxidation only a pleasant background note, with lovely herbal and fruity flavours to the fore--orange and fennel springing to mind. Good weight without any hollowing from age. Alcohol not showing either. A great food wine.
February 4, 2023 - From 75cl, perfect cork, decanted 1 hour (which it badly needed for the hefty "barnyard" [=sheey-itt] funk to blow off). Thereafter: Honey/mead-like scent, later honeysuckle, finally jasmine. Big-bodied, unctuous textured entry with white and stone fruit character and a fine acidic structure. Gently resonant, vibrating finish. After the oxidised disaster of my previous bottle (TN 27.12.2022) what a relief this one survived. Note to fellow wine-lovers: this is very sensitive to temperature. Between about 8C and 14C there is a range of gorgeous nuances to enjoy. Don't serve it straight out of the fridge! Note to producer: other, more reliable, closures are available, which would allow your customers to enjoy your expensive products unspoiled and consistently at maturity... 91-92P
December 27, 2022 - From 75cl, cork grey and spongey 1cm back from wine end. Plausible light straw colour, but the strongly premox/oxidised smell combined unflatteringly with volatile over-ripe melon-rind aromas. This is such a gutsy, highly alcoholic (15% declared) and concentrated wine that it's (just) possible to drink it in this condition, for an 83–84P kind of experience, but pleasure is something else, at least at this price point. Hope my remaining bottle is in better shape...
August 30, 2020 - Floral nose with a hint of dried fruit. Novelty wine everyone enjoyed trying.
June 27, 2020 - The alcohol in this bottle was completely dominating. Maybe there was a time in the past when there was better balance, but the fruit has mostly faded and with quite a bit of oxidation it needs to be accompanied with strong food to be at all digestible.
July 19, 2019 - Mildly oxidative in the way that Rousanne can be, more so than previous bottles. It did lose some of the unpleasant edge over the course of the evening to reveal a full bodied but earthy stone-fruit sweetness. Drink now; will not improve.
February 16, 2019 - A Fine Set of Wines with Friends, Both Old and New (Los Olivos, CA): It always figures -- my last of these bottles showed the best. More energetic than its predecessors, mildly oxidative, with generous honeysuckle, cedar, white pit fruit and herbal notes. Impressive aromatic complexity, especially as the wine rose in temperature.
December 19, 2018 - Syrah Night with an Expanded Version of Our Tasting Group (Bear and Star, Los Olivos, CA): Fairly advanced and oxidative, but with energetic fruit underneath. Notes of honeysuckle, cedar, white pit fruit and herbs. A few had this as WOTN. I have it at the top of the lower third myself.
August 26, 2018 - One Fun-Filled Afternoon Spent Poolside with Friends (Los Olivos, CA): Others enjoyed this more than I did. Fairly advanced and oxidative, but the fruit is there still, and rounded out with air. Notes of honeysuckle, cedar, white pit fruit and herbs. Missing the energy I noted in previous bottles. Drink up.
June 2, 2018 - Popped and poured. Complex and dry: the Rousanne shows well here. With parchment-baked cod, artichokes, and kalamata olives. A hit.