Community Tasting Note

Faryan wrote:

Sunday, September 26, 2010 - An evening with Clos des Papes (Againn, Washington DC): The showstopper. This wine is somewhat aberrant from the others, partly due to its bottle age and also partly due to the vintage. This bottle was opened about 7-8 hours prior to service and left to slow-oxidize. Darryl who generously provided the bottle had said that upon opening it was simply an explosive wine driven by that superlative sweet granache which will become the vintage's hallmark. Nevertheless, the wine still explodes on the nose with that royal kirsch composite seen in the 07 Mon Aieul and otherworldly 07 Janassee VV. Intense notes of licorice, dark chocolate, cherry and kirsch. The pitch is still a touch hollow but it has the structure and acidity to really flesh out with bottle age. If one is to nitpick, it lacks the nth degree and dimensionality of the Janassee VV which was to me an ungodly iteration of a young wine. This is confined amongst the mortality of vinous expression and I would put it a notch below the Mon Aieul and however two notches below the VV. However, what it lacks in laser like focus and pitch of fruit, I think it makes up for in dimensionality and complexity, elements which the VV likely will not excel at but the Mon Aieul may also develop. With more swirling, intoxicating elements of cracked pepper, boysenberry and rhubarb emerge. This wine is an absolute monster, but given its recent price escalation, I can only hope that the true drinker got in on the ground floor (what was it 89 dollars on pre-arival) for purchasing it, as the price has doubled (same could be said about MA and JVV).

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