April 5, 2015 - Decanted for 2 plus hours, minimal nose and heavy tannin on the palate, very dry with limited fruit and some acidity. Purchased at the vineyard in 2007 and not quite as enjoyable as the fuller 2002.
February 14, 2015 - Enjoyed with Valentine's Day dinner 2015. Wow, what a unique little wine from a mostly forgotten about winegrowing part of France! This wine was full out ready to go from the start. Decanted for an extreme amount of sediment. The nose was black cherry and blackberry with lavender, herbs, and a tough of nitrogen. Thinking I was going to have a nitrogenous wine on my hands (like some of these little French winegrowing regions can produce!) I buckled down to prepare for the huge nitrogen notes and received none from start to finish! The front of this wine is black cherry tart on some occasions and blackberry on other occasions. Fleshy, kind of "purple" as this one turns to the mid-palate. This is maybe a touch flabby in the middle. But wow oh wow. This one finishes with these incredible cranberry and dried lavender notes among other mostly unidentified herbs in that wonderful, yet extremely unique, and rather tannic, finish. Can't ever say that I've had a wine like this. I have no idea how many more years this one has on it, but I would guess it probably has a few more with proper cellaring. I am very doubtful that this one will improve any more in the bottle, but considering I am quite ignorant to this region, I really can't say other than Drink Up!! Enjoy this one because it's in a good place right now!!
February 2, 2015 - Sour cherries, earth and some floral notes on the nose. The palate didn't show as much; I though it lacked depth in the mid-palate and finished with the typical mouvedre tannins. I enjoyed the wine, but it wasn't overly complex or delicious.
January 27, 2015 - Corked
March 23, 2014 - Meilleur que le 2003 et il était un peu plus tannique..
February 1, 2013 - Part of a tasting of Mourvedres. Decanted 2 hours. Not a pale wine but a bit faded and brown compared to an '09 by is side. Dust and earth on the nose and blackberry and cherry on the palate. This is. Dry balanced and deliscious but would be best with food
December 5, 2012 - Got this for 1/2 price date night @ Belle Vie, Midlothian, paired with rack of lamb.
Floral nose with hints od cedar, tart cherry, sour cranberries, graphte, slate, maybe a bit thin, but still nice balance between fruit and minerals.
Thanks Sean!
June 13, 2012 - Needs 3 hours and ultimately opens to strawberries and some leather. Super simple and super average, not worth the $41.
April 23, 2012 - Had this at Bouchon in LA at dinner with a large group and given the circumstances, it was pop and pour. Wine started to nicely open and then it was gone and we started a new bottle, but you could see the potential.
Very dark in color, I thought the wine had very typical taste of Mourvedre, which is often find a bit flat, but in this case had sufficient ripeness. Not very complex, but a very delightful soft-tannin mouthfeel and nice fruit. A very enjoyable wine which actually seemed a bit Italian in style. I think I would have likely rated this higher if the wine had an opportunity to breath.
July 28, 2011 - Restaurant bottle-Mahogany color, tannins smoothed out, lighter bodied and more acidic than I expected, but enjoyable with dinner