1997 Château Pradeaux Bandol
Community Tasting Note
forceberry wrote:
Saturday, August 15, 2020 - A blend of Mourvèdre (90-95%) and old-vine Grenache. 13% alcohol.
Developed and very slightly translucent, dark mahogany red color with a somewhat evolved coppery rim. Developed, somewhat sweet-toned and slightly oxidative nose with aromas of wizened dark fruits, some bloody meat notes, a little bit of tobacco, light tertiary fruit notes of pruned and dried figs and a hint of leather. The wine is dry, dense and very savory on the palate with a full body and quite noticeably bitter taste of wizened figs, ripe dark-toned fruits, some umami notes of raw, bloody meat, light crunchy crowberry tones, a little bit of beef jerky, a hint of tobacco and a touch of old, dry leather. The overall feel is enjoyably textural and quite seriously structured with its high acidity and still quite formidable, grippy tannins. The finish is rather tannic and grippy with remarkably long and rather robust flavors of crunchy redcurrants, quite pronounced sour cherry bitterness, a little bit of pruney dark fruits, light raisiny tones, an umami hint of gamey meat and a touch of pipe tobacco.
A tough, stern and dead-serious powerhouse of Bandol. This bottle was from the same batch as the bottle of which my last TN was on; unlike that bottle, which felt noticeably tired and rather oxidative, this wine was in much better shape, retaining a good deal of fruit and not showing much oxidative qualities. However, I suspect those bottles have come from a cellar with nonoptimal conditions, since this wine, too, felt more evolved and tertiary than what I'd expect from a Pradeaux clocking at 20-25 years of age. This was good as a whole, showing solid balance between the fruit and the structure, but it still isn't match for the best old Bandols I've had. Hopefully this and the previous bottle I had were just performing poorly and there are some better-kept bottles that perform better. At 32,50€ this was priced somewhat according to its quality.
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