Community Tasting Note

johnrm Likes this wine:

Sunday, December 10, 2023 - Deep, youthful colour and the nose took a while to open in the glass, even though the bottle was uncorked 5h earlier. We got the earthy notes mentioned by others plus the blackcurrant and blackberry fruit, soft leathery tannins, tobacco, cedar, and oak that typifies Pauillac. Some spice developed over many hours
The palate was big, rich, with spice and complexity. A long end palate (which my wife found had a rather idiosyncratic taste at first - probably the persistent cedar). I rather liked the way it evolved over time and retained the cedar/oak notes. These latter characteristics went very well with a rare fillet steak. After the food, the wine tasted softer.
We kept some back and tasted the next day when the end palate was better balanced (I agree with FRANSS that the wine took a long time to soften, lose some of the wood, and bring the palate into focus). On the second day, the nose was less forward but the palate showed attractive dark plum flavours with plum skins and some liquorice but there was no sweetness in the fruit. It was very good but, honestly, it did not reach the expected heights. I would have been deeply disappointed had I bought this at the current online retail price.
Like AlexB70, we had waited a long time since purchase to taste this wine. We bought it on holiday in France soon after release and it has been stored under ideal conditions at a steady 11C. The cork was perfect.

Post a Comment / View johnrm's profile
2 people found this helpful, do you? Yes - No / Report Issue (981 views)