Community Tasting Note

mfkidd wrote:

Sunday, April 8, 2007 - Opened and decanted two hours before Easter dinner with Jay, Julia, Dave and Doug. Tasting a sip upon opening the wine was undrinkable. Tight, closed, no fruit. I was worried enough (just bought the wine recently from a store and who the hell knows about the provenance) that i opend a backup bottle of Australian Shiraz just in case.

An hour later, still undrinkable. Pretty worried now. Left it to sit in the decanter as guests arrived. Enough drinkers that we poured the shiraz first (2004 Kilikanoon Covenant). When that was finished, I muttered some excuses about how I didn't knwo how this next wine would be and then poured it around the table.

All of a sudden fruit was there. A very strong nose and a good powerhouse kick of what I can only assume people associate with mountain cabernets. A real firmness. A billygoat of a wine, but smooth with a nice long finish. A "celery crispness" accompanied the berry fruit on the palate.

About 1/3 of the bottle remains and I've vacuum-vined the wine and stuck it in the fridge to investigate tommorrow. I would say, ideally, 3 hours of decanting minimum before sipping this one.

Big sigh of relief that this came around though. One bottle left that I'll try in a decade or so.

UPDATE AFTER 24 HOURS:

I am trying the wine again now, 24 hours later, after putting in the fridge overnight. Poured into glass and allowed to reach room temperature after two hours. The wine has settled down now and cherry and pear flavors rare really coming out now. Silky and smooth, the finish is about 20-30 seconds. A little road weary after it's long trip in the fridge, but the wine is drinking as well, if not better, as it was after three hours decanting yesterday.

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