2016 Clos Saint Jean Châteauneuf-du-Pape Deus-Ex Machina
Community Tasting Note
ERU wrote:
Saturday, December 30, 2023 - Aerated and decanted 2 hours. Poured a glass and sat by the fire.
Nose of game and blood. Wealth of beautiful black fruits and plums. A surprising zing of menthol every third long, slow inhale.
Palate of spicy herbs and cured meat. The grenache holds more sway here with some red fruit breaking through the black. It’s got so much going on—game here, tar there, stewed puréed fruits and blood splattered about. It’s big and deep; it’s hedonism with an almost impossible balancing act with. . . everything. Everything!
This wine is NOT for the fastidious or decorous who prune the shrubbery into animal shapes, make love with the lights off, and/or are not haunted by Ellen Burstyn’s loss at the 73rd Academy Awards. It’s for those who enter the opium den, find it all blasé, then head to the secret back room where a mysterious man keeps the magic puzzle boxes that can bring forth either angels or demons, depending upon your proclivities, of course. I don’t know about you, but, for me, bring it on, denizens of the opium den!
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3 comments have been posted
3 people found this helpful, do you? Yes - No / Report Issue (1,479 views)
Comment posted by Kronos(er):
3/18/2024 9:39:00 AM - This is the first time in my 30 years long wine-drinking experience, that I felt such a strong curiosity, fueled solely by someone else's criticism and description of one particular wine. Now, I just have to buy that bottle, sit by the lit fireplace, open it, pour myself a glass and try to imagine myself walking into that secret back room. What will I find there? Maybe the wine will point me in the right direction, whether it's angelic or demonic, whatever...I'll definitely let you know...
Comment posted by ERU:
3/18/2024 11:55:00 AM - Please do let me know! It’s one hell of a wine. I hope it doesn’t disappoint. And, really, another vintage would almost (just almost!) be as good. Can’t go wrong with this one. Cheers!
Comment posted by Kronos(er):
3/19/2024 4:10:00 AM - Oh yes, I definitely will. But since the whole stage has to be set properly, which includes the mysterious dance of fire tongues in my fireplace, we will have to wait until next winter, because current temperature in Croatia is enormously high for this part of the year and I feel that the unnecessary heat from the fire would lead me to feel like giant fire puffer from Frank Zappa’s "Torture Never Stops" dungeon of despair, rather than allowing me to relax and focus on the wine. Furthermore, the closest bottle I found is in Vienna (Austria), so the whole operation of delivering this bottle to my door will take at least 2 weeks. All in all, quite a complicated operation. However, your intriguing thoughts and associations with this wine made all this meaningful and I can't wait for the day when I will be able to write to you my impression and my thoughts in which direction this wine took me. Cheers.