What an insane lineup at Anhelo this n downtown Phoenix. No notes, impressions only:
With the inaugural vintage, DRC improvements could already be felt. Perhaps not up to the threshold of DRC, the wine was delicious nonetheless. Beautifully floral with a wonderful unfurled finish. So damn good already, what will learnings yield in future expressions. Beautiful
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Blind. I thought Pinot Noir, a little older, maybe 8 years in the bottle or so. When it was revealed this was the DRC I spotted on the counter of the bar I became emotional. Not because the wine was so special but because of the kindness of the sommelier to let me taste this. My first DRC, a little left-over, the last pour in the bottle. So very grateful.
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Decanted for 2 hours, served blind I guessed Dujac 2010 CdlR. Bottle number 00544. The nose screams whole cluster fermentation with aromatic elements of sandalwood, black cherry, plum, orange zest and asian spices. The palate is big, shows a ton of dry extract, and has a young clenched character coupled to the black cherry/plum fruit and a saline infused silky texture. This is densely packed and powerful; built for the long haul and seems like it needs a lot of time to soften the deeply clenched fruit.
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Served blind. Young, oaky, suave. I had guessed '12 vintage, this really is incredibly young and oak will need a lot of time to integrate. Tannins are relatively soft though, so this would probably be fine to serve with an extended decant.
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Dark fruits, some PN nose, quite deep, spice, a hint of menthol; more dark berries in the mouth, high acid, slightly angular, dusty tannins. Nose best, somewhat rustic.
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This was beautiful and more than held its own alongside an '09 Grands Ech. For the first vintage of DRC Corton, this is shockingly "DRC"--deep, layered, and fresh with excellent proportion, while retaining site typicity. This was my first DRC Corton and it leaves me very encouraged for the future work at the site.
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Tea, candied fruit, smoke and graphite. It has the DRC structure. I do think this is a notch below the echezeaux in terms of depth and finesse, but still very DRC.
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2016 Villa d’Este Wine Symposium - Kelly, Alan and Kevin's excellent adventure; 11/3/2016-11/12/2016 (Villa D’este, Lake Como, Piedmont, Milan and Frankfurt): A lot of telltale signs of DRC, cool blue and black fruit, stem, tea and Asian spices. Also scorched earth, cedar and sesame/toasted oak. Excellent concentration, silky and suave, perfect amount of acidity and stem driven mineral, nicely integrated tannins and a lovely long finish that ends with a hint of blackberry and stem. Really approachable and enjoyable which is typical of the 09 DRCs. There is also a hint of steely masculine Corton typicity. Really enjoyable.
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2016 Villa d’Este Wine Symposium - Kelly, Alan and Kevin's excellent adventure; 11/3/2016-11/12/2016 (Villa D’este, Lake Como, Piedmont, Milan and Frankfurt): Expressive nose displaying cool yet opulent blue fruit, cinnamon, cedar, a hint of cigarette ash, tea and lavender. Excellent concentration, rich yet silky and rich texture that I associate with DRC, just right amount of acidity, stem, nicely integrated tannins and a long finish. Considering it is the inaugural vintage, it is remarkable how much the wine shows the DRC signature. It also displays the masculine expression of Corton. Perhaps the most masculine and least complex wine of DRC. Nevertheless it is quite expressive and really enjoyable in very DRC way.
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Aired for 3,5 hours. The nose gives very little initially. And what it shows is relatively unbalanced warm fruit with hints of alcohol. Some black tea, and some oak. Fairly muted. The palate is a bit sharp and has some bitterness to it. But bear in mind this is compared to the splendid Grands Echezeaux we tasted right before this one, so this is actually a very good wine. After half an hour in the glass the nose suddenly shows a lot of lemon tea, almost iced tea. Fascinating! The taste also evolves and shows forest mushrooms, soy sauce and forest floor. The Corton is, compared to all the other wines tasted tonight, a weaker wine and shows a slight different kind of fruit, but it is nonetheless an experience to try the very first vintage of this wine.
50+5+12+15+8 (90p)
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A private lunch (Restaurant l'Ambroisie ***, Paris, France): From a plot of 2.2746 ha, of which 0.5721 ha are in Clos du Roi, 1.1944 ha in Bressandes and 0.5081 ha in Renardes. Bottle No. 07305 from 8,480 produced, 13% ABV. Quite a deep and rich colour for DRC; wonderful nose, intense and expressive, rich and warm and meaty, a lovely hint of wood spice (60% new oak) and the tell-tale floral lift from the (50%) whole-cluster fermentation, develops a touch of sous-bois with some aeration and a hint of cocoa; the palate is full-bodied and very structured, the weight of fruit is perfectly balanced by ripe acidity, the powerful and chewy tannins are enveloped in sweet flesh, with lovely floral lift on the back palate; very long and layered finish, wood spices and roses, hint of black tea. A great Corton. Almost ready to drink, but ideally needs a few more years to come together; should last for 20-25 years.
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(Decanted for three hours.) This wine was served by our generous host. With some pleasant recent 2009 Corton tasting experiences behind me, I was very excited to try it. After all, this is DRC. The wine has a very deep, brooding ruby/purple color. The bouquet is somewhat muted and the scents of black cherry, plum and anise rise from the glass only after considerable coaxing. It is massive in the mouth, with considerable weight and thickness. However, the correspondingly big flavors of cherry and plum are relatively simple (foursquare?) with only modest persistence. The tannins are large but manageable. This wine seems slightly awkward and out of balance. It might be in dumb place. Perhaps time will bestow on it the complexity and interest that it currently lacks. I am guardedly optimistic. 90+ points.
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He was the darkest und was there from the beginning. Plumbs and cherries. Biscuits, molasses (malt), slightly toasted sugar. Full-body and astonishing soft. Spiced, with a long aftertaste. Very present - he shows where he is coming from and is individual althoug. During the 1.5 hours (and the room temperature) he became lightly wider. Long aftertaste.
Er zeigte die dunkelste Farbe und war von Beginn weg sehr zugänglich. Pflaumen und Kirschen. Bisquits, Melasse (Malz), leicht gebrannter Zucker. Voll und erstaunlich weich. Würzig, fast schon wollüstig, mit einem langen Abgang. Sehr präsent - er zeigt woher er kommt und ist doch individuell. Über die eineinhalb Stunden (und die Raum-Temperatur) wurde er etwas breiter. Langer Abgang.
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DRC 2007 vs 2009: Dyp, mørk rød med blåskjær. Stram, jordlig og dyp bærfrukt på nese med fioler og markjordbær. Lett sødme. Stram og lineær frukt preget av friske røde og blå bær. Slank kropp og mild sødme. Frisk syre. Tørr avslutning med lette tanniner og noe sødme. Fin lengde.
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Really active and vibrant on the nose from the moment it is poured. There’s some black cherry, pomegranate, liquorice, purple flowers and iron to the aroma. There’s also some sarsaparilla from the oak (a character I see in Francois Freres coopered barrels often). It is a powerful wine with lush, dense fruits and earthy/ mineral structure but it has poise and an airiness that you see in so many of the Domaine’s wines. It is very Corton, Very DRC and very good and in need of a very long sleep.
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Dark blue fruit with an almost rhone like character. Earthy, opolent and rich with a very fine length. A lovely bottle of wine that will improve for sure.
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DRC 2009 tasting (Operakällaren, Stockholm): Medium red colour, rather dark and slightly blue-tinged. Powerful nose with dark berries, some mint and liquorice, clearly spicy, notes of toasted oak barrels, discrete perfume notes, some minerality. Elegant nose, but almost some notes reminiscent of a Grenache/Syrah blend. Slightly more than medium bodied on the palate, red and dark berries, high acidity, some mineral, some tannin, spicy. Long and rather spicy-acidic aftertaste. The palate is younger than the nose. 91+
This wine is a little differently styled than the other DRC 2009 grand crus. It is more blueish in colour and shows a slightly different nose, and has less strong mineral character. It’s interesting to note that it shows a more obvious oaked character although it actually has less new oak (60%) compared to the rest (95-100%).
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Deep red color. On the nose it has animal tones, smoke/smoked meat, peat, a bit heavy, and kind of a young nose. On the palate good acidity, young, sharp and clean fruit , nice tannins, smoke, medium/short aftertaste.
A lovely wine, but not very Pinot like to me. Very much Syrah/Rhône like in some weird way? I believe if I had it blind, I might actually misplace it for a Northern Rhône Syrah wine?
First release from the DRC Corton vineyards, and we were told that the grapes originated from 3 different places and was mixed together, but that they will be bottled separated in the coming vintages, from each separate lieu diets. Will be fun to follow this wine and this new DRC venture and see where it goes from here and in the years to come.
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Tasted in the cellars of DRC. This was a once in a lifetime visit and the 4 hours we spent at the Domaine were truly a pleasure. I cannot thank our hosts at DRC enough for arranging such a special tour and tasting. Their modesty combined with their passion for the wines are truly remarkable. The first vintage for Corton. A blend of 3 parcels. Tight and dense on the nose. Dark fruits and minerals. A bit rustic on the palate, very concentrated and backward. Definitely had the DRC character. The wine was cold and probably would have showed better in a few hours. It will be interesting to see how DRC develops its new holdings.
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2/17/2024 - LiteItOnFire wrote: flawed
What an insane lineup at Anhelo this n downtown Phoenix. No notes, impressions only:
With the inaugural vintage, DRC improvements could already be felt. Perhaps not up to the threshold of DRC, the wine was delicious nonetheless. Beautifully floral with a wonderful unfurled finish. So damn good already, what will learnings yield in future expressions. Beautiful
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5/29/2023 - Quinn05 wrote:
Blind. I thought Pinot Noir, a little older, maybe 8 years in the bottle or so. When it was revealed this was the DRC I spotted on the counter of the bar I became emotional. Not because the wine was so special but because of the kindness of the sommelier to let me taste this. My first DRC, a little left-over, the last pour in the bottle. So very grateful.
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4/21/2023 - fcxj wrote: 92 Points
First year, not really DRC. (5024/8480)
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10/28/2022 - fcxj wrote: 92 Points
Smells and tastes more like Prince de Merode than DRC. Stem character not obvious and not particularly refined either. (5366/8480)
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9/26/2022 - llink wrote: 94 Points
Decanted for 2 hours, served blind I guessed Dujac 2010 CdlR. Bottle number 00544. The nose screams whole cluster fermentation with aromatic elements of sandalwood, black cherry, plum, orange zest and asian spices. The palate is big, shows a ton of dry extract, and has a young clenched character coupled to the black cherry/plum fruit and a saline infused silky texture. This is densely packed and powerful; built for the long haul and seems like it needs a lot of time to soften the deeply clenched fruit.
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8/23/2020 - johnh1001 wrote: 93 Points
Closer to my first experience. Lighter but spice and cotton candy on the nose. Nice depth but shorter.
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2/1/2019 - hprphf wrote: 92 Points
Acker 2019/02 (Vaucluse): 00210/8480. Vintage hotness just comes right through. Quite pleasant. 92
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1/25/2019 - Alex G. Likes this wine:
Served blind. Young, oaky, suave. I had guessed '12 vintage, this really is incredibly young and oak will need a lot of time to integrate. Tannins are relatively soft though, so this would probably be fine to serve with an extended decant.
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10/20/2018 - LWI wrote: 91 Points
Dark fruits, some PN nose, quite deep, spice, a hint of menthol; more dark berries in the mouth, high acid, slightly angular, dusty tannins. Nose best, somewhat rustic.
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7/6/2018 - rc@ughey wrote: 94 Points
This was beautiful and more than held its own alongside an '09 Grands Ech. For the first vintage of DRC Corton, this is shockingly "DRC"--deep, layered, and fresh with excellent proportion, while retaining site typicity. This was my first DRC Corton and it leaves me very encouraged for the future work at the site.
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5/26/2018 - fcxj wrote: 94 Points
Aromatics aren't what Vosne delivers, but clean, red fruited and pleasurable. Refills. (7273/8480)
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6/22/2017 - Burgnick Likes this wine: 92 Points
Tea, candied fruit, smoke and graphite. It has the DRC structure. I do think this is a notch below the echezeaux in terms of depth and finesse, but still very DRC.
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11/5/2016 - dcwino wrote: 94 Points
2016 Villa d’Este Wine Symposium - Kelly, Alan and Kevin's excellent adventure; 11/3/2016-11/12/2016 (Villa D’este, Lake Como, Piedmont, Milan and Frankfurt): A lot of telltale signs of DRC, cool blue and black fruit, stem, tea and Asian spices. Also scorched earth, cedar and sesame/toasted oak. Excellent concentration, silky and suave, perfect amount of acidity and stem driven mineral, nicely integrated tannins and a lovely long finish that ends with a hint of blackberry and stem. Really approachable and enjoyable which is typical of the 09 DRCs. There is also a hint of steely masculine Corton typicity. Really enjoyable.
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11/3/2016 - dcwino wrote: 93 Points
2016 Villa d’Este Wine Symposium - Kelly, Alan and Kevin's excellent adventure; 11/3/2016-11/12/2016 (Villa D’este, Lake Como, Piedmont, Milan and Frankfurt): Expressive nose displaying cool yet opulent blue fruit, cinnamon, cedar, a hint of cigarette ash, tea and lavender. Excellent concentration, rich yet silky and rich texture that I associate with DRC, just right amount of acidity, stem, nicely integrated tannins and a long finish. Considering it is the inaugural vintage, it is remarkable how much the wine shows the DRC signature. It also displays the masculine expression of Corton. Perhaps the most masculine and least complex wine of DRC. Nevertheless it is quite expressive and really enjoyable in very DRC way.
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9/24/2016 - Shiaxonna wrote: 90 Points
Aired for 3,5 hours. The nose gives very little initially. And what it shows is relatively unbalanced warm fruit with hints of alcohol. Some black tea, and some oak. Fairly muted. The palate is a bit sharp and has some bitterness to it. But bear in mind this is compared to the splendid Grands Echezeaux we tasted right before this one, so this is actually a very good wine. After half an hour in the glass the nose suddenly shows a lot of lemon tea, almost iced tea. Fascinating! The taste also evolves and shows forest mushrooms, soy sauce and forest floor. The Corton is, compared to all the other wines tasted tonight, a weaker wine and shows a slight different kind of fruit, but it is nonetheless an experience to try the very first vintage of this wine.
50+5+12+15+8 (90p)
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7/18/2016 - robertek wrote: 93 Points
Love the green (in a good way) nose - DRC!
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4/27/2016 - Xavier Auerbach wrote: 95 Points
A private lunch (Restaurant l'Ambroisie ***, Paris, France): From a plot of 2.2746 ha, of which 0.5721 ha are in Clos du Roi, 1.1944 ha in Bressandes and 0.5081 ha in Renardes. Bottle No. 07305 from 8,480 produced, 13% ABV. Quite a deep and rich colour for DRC; wonderful nose, intense and expressive, rich and warm and meaty, a lovely hint of wood spice (60% new oak) and the tell-tale floral lift from the (50%) whole-cluster fermentation, develops a touch of sous-bois with some aeration and a hint of cocoa; the palate is full-bodied and very structured, the weight of fruit is perfectly balanced by ripe acidity, the powerful and chewy tannins are enveloped in sweet flesh, with lovely floral lift on the back palate; very long and layered finish, wood spices and roses, hint of black tea. A great Corton. Almost ready to drink, but ideally needs a few more years to come together; should last for 20-25 years.
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4/14/2016 - sgupta wrote: 93 Points
Wild flowers, anise, cola, red blue fruits, light on its feet but intense
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6/6/2015 - Wine Fool Likes this wine: 90 Points
(Decanted for three hours.) This wine was served by our generous host. With some pleasant recent 2009 Corton tasting experiences behind me, I was very excited to try it. After all, this is DRC. The wine has a very deep, brooding ruby/purple color. The bouquet is somewhat muted and the scents of black cherry, plum and anise rise from the glass only after considerable coaxing. It is massive in the mouth, with considerable weight and thickness. However, the correspondingly big flavors of cherry and plum are relatively simple (foursquare?) with only modest persistence. The tannins are large but manageable. This wine seems slightly awkward and out of balance. It might be in dumb place. Perhaps time will bestow on it the complexity and interest that it currently lacks. I am guardedly optimistic. 90+ points.
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4/3/2015 - johnh1001 wrote: 91 Points
Tonight this was much thinner and simpler than I remember. Nice red and black fruit along with spice and stem notes. Not much depth.
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1/23/2015 - steinersing wrote: 94 Points
Surprisingly open already - more black/blue fruits than red.
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11/13/2012 - Jeremy Holmes wrote:
Rocky, stony, chewy with some menthol and oak spice. It is an excellent wine and held up well against the rest of its siblings
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10/30/2012 - winelegends.net wrote: 92 Points
He was the darkest und was there from the beginning. Plumbs and cherries. Biscuits, molasses (malt), slightly toasted sugar. Full-body and astonishing soft. Spiced, with a long aftertaste. Very present - he shows where he is coming from and is individual althoug. During the 1.5 hours (and the room temperature) he became lightly wider. Long aftertaste.
Er zeigte die dunkelste Farbe und war von Beginn weg sehr zugänglich. Pflaumen und Kirschen. Bisquits, Melasse (Malz), leicht gebrannter Zucker. Voll und erstaunlich weich. Würzig, fast schon wollüstig, mit einem langen Abgang. Sehr präsent - er zeigt woher er kommt und ist doch individuell. Über die eineinhalb Stunden (und die Raum-Temperatur) wurde er etwas breiter. Langer Abgang.
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9/26/2012 - -E- wrote: 92 Points
DRC 2007 vs 2009: Dyp, mørk rød med blåskjær. Stram, jordlig og dyp bærfrukt på nese med fioler og markjordbær. Lett sødme. Stram og lineær frukt preget av friske røde og blå bær. Slank kropp og mild sødme. Frisk syre. Tørr avslutning med lette tanniner og noe sødme. Fin lengde.
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9/14/2012 - Jeremy Holmes wrote:
Really active and vibrant on the nose from the moment it is poured. There’s some black cherry, pomegranate, liquorice, purple flowers and iron to the aroma. There’s also some sarsaparilla from the oak (a character I see in Francois Freres coopered barrels often). It is a powerful wine with lush, dense fruits and earthy/ mineral structure but it has poise and an airiness that you see in so many of the Domaine’s wines. It is very Corton, Very DRC and very good and in need of a very long sleep.
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5/9/2012 - St Paul wrote: 92 Points
Dark blue fruit with an almost rhone like character. Earthy, opolent and rich with a very fine length. A lovely bottle of wine that will improve for sure.
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5/8/2012 - Vintomas wrote: 91 Points
DRC 2009 tasting (Operakällaren, Stockholm): Medium red colour, rather dark and slightly blue-tinged. Powerful nose with dark berries, some mint and liquorice, clearly spicy, notes of toasted oak barrels, discrete perfume notes, some minerality. Elegant nose, but almost some notes reminiscent of a Grenache/Syrah blend. Slightly more than medium bodied on the palate, red and dark berries, high acidity, some mineral, some tannin, spicy. Long and rather spicy-acidic aftertaste. The palate is younger than the nose. 91+
This wine is a little differently styled than the other DRC 2009 grand crus. It is more blueish in colour and shows a slightly different nose, and has less strong mineral character. It’s interesting to note that it shows a more obvious oaked character although it actually has less new oak (60%) compared to the rest (95-100%).
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5/8/2012 - Ramberg wrote: 91 Points
Deep red color.
On the nose it has animal tones, smoke/smoked meat, peat, a bit heavy, and kind of a young nose.
On the palate good acidity, young, sharp and clean fruit , nice tannins, smoke, medium/short aftertaste.
A lovely wine, but not very Pinot like to me.
Very much Syrah/Rhône like in some weird way?
I believe if I had it blind, I might actually misplace it for a Northern Rhône Syrah wine?
First release from the DRC Corton vineyards, and we were told that the grapes originated from 3 different places and was mixed together, but that they will be bottled separated in the coming vintages, from each separate lieu diets.
Will be fun to follow this wine and this new DRC venture and see where it goes from here and in the years to come.
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5/5/2012 - johnh1001 wrote: 94 Points
Tasted in the cellars of DRC. This was a once in a lifetime visit and the 4 hours we spent at the Domaine were truly a pleasure. I cannot thank our hosts at DRC enough for arranging such a special tour and tasting. Their modesty combined with their passion for the wines are truly remarkable. The first vintage for Corton. A blend of 3 parcels. Tight and dense on the nose. Dark fruits and minerals. A bit rustic on the palate, very concentrated and backward. Definitely had the DRC character. The wine was cold and probably would have showed better in a few hours. It will be interesting to see how DRC develops its new holdings.
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