Garnet color with browning rim. Nose of leather, olives, toast and dried flowers. Tart and short on the palate with dried out flavors. Not dead but not much left here. Maybe poor storage but this bottle should have been drunk long ago.
Next night... Wow! What a difference a day makes! After a night in the fridge in a 375, the second half of this bottle is a different animal. Color is deeper. Notes of bacon, wild herbs, beef jerky, dried red fruits and hints of mint on the nose. Good depth and length on the palate with flavors of tapenade and red fruits - mineral notes on the finish. Score upgraded from 82 to 88
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A Night of French Wine (Chez Simo Bistro - Chicago, IL): I've had a bunch of these early-to-mid '80s Hermitages from Guigal and they've all been delightful. Very rustic they all have smokey dark fruit on the nose with just tons of briney olive notes. Would be hard to think this was anything other than Northern Rhone syrah.
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Dinner at Chez Simo (Chicago, IL): Black olives on the nose. It's quite clear. This is in the perfect place right now with excellent balance between the primary and secondary, and I think there's a bit of a risk of it drying out. The tannins are perfectly resolved and there's a good vein of acidity to keep things fresh.
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What a great surprise and from a not so great vintage. Brick and garnet showing old age. Currants and classic dried fruits with a hint of sweetness. Singular impression, not at all blended like most clarets. Structured with mild tannins. Finesse and minerals. But what a great easy drink with lovely flavors that expand if the wine stays around long enough. The opposite of Shiraz. This is a wine of terrior-the syrah sings as a wonderfully drinkable Hermitage.
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Lovely nose of lavender, perfume, spices and cherries. Blue,blackberries engulfs the palate, thought leaving a little heavy acidity at the back. unique aftertaste. Nice wine.
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"Huat-Huat" Chinese New Year Dinner (Ana Lucia Grill, Serangoon Gardens): From a half-bottle. Enjoyable, if not exactly perfect. Nose showed mature Rhone notes of winter melon, herbs, menthol, incense, lavender and spice aromas playing on a backdrop of sweet red fruit scents. The palate was full bodied - certainly heavier than any of the other wines on show, with thick flavours of haw flakes and cherries, followed by meat, spice and garrigue towards the finish. The balance was okay on the attack, but I thought the acidity dropped a little towards the end, so that the wine became just a little plodding. It was high-time we drank up this half-bottle. Full bottles might age that much better, but I would not expect this wine to be developing much further than it already had when we got to it. Overall this was still an enjoyable wine with plenty of character. As would be expected, a great pairing with the wild boar in Montepulciano stew as well.
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9/17/2014 - meniscus Likes this wine: 88 Points
Garnet color with browning rim.
Nose of leather, olives, toast and dried flowers.
Tart and short on the palate with dried out flavors. Not dead but not much left here.
Maybe poor storage but this bottle should have been drunk long ago.
Next night... Wow! What a difference a day makes! After a night in the fridge in a 375, the second half of this bottle is a different animal. Color is deeper. Notes of bacon, wild herbs, beef jerky, dried red fruits and hints of mint on the nose. Good depth and length on the palate with flavors of tapenade and red fruits - mineral notes on the finish. Score upgraded from 82 to 88
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5/2/2014 - tooch wrote: 91 Points
A Night of French Wine (Chez Simo Bistro - Chicago, IL): I've had a bunch of these early-to-mid '80s Hermitages from Guigal and they've all been delightful. Very rustic they all have smokey dark fruit on the nose with just tons of briney olive notes. Would be hard to think this was anything other than Northern Rhone syrah.
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5/2/2014 - acyso wrote: 90 Points
Dinner at Chez Simo (Chicago, IL): Black olives on the nose. It's quite clear. This is in the perfect place right now with excellent balance between the primary and secondary, and I think there's a bit of a risk of it drying out. The tannins are perfectly resolved and there's a good vein of acidity to keep things fresh.
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12/1/2013 - spillwine wrote: 87 Points
OK, trop vieux mais toujours interéssant
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7/15/2012 - jmccready wrote: 92 Points
What a great surprise and from a not so great vintage. Brick and garnet showing old age. Currants and classic dried fruits with a hint of sweetness.
Singular impression, not at all blended like most clarets. Structured with mild tannins. Finesse and minerals. But what a great easy drink with lovely
flavors that expand if the wine stays around long enough. The opposite of Shiraz. This is a wine of terrior-the syrah sings as a wonderfully drinkable
Hermitage.
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3/27/2011 - Mingmong wrote: 91 Points
Lovely nose of lavender, perfume, spices and cherries. Blue,blackberries engulfs the palate, thought leaving a little heavy acidity at the back. unique aftertaste. Nice wine.
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2/5/2011 - Paul S wrote: 90 Points
"Huat-Huat" Chinese New Year Dinner (Ana Lucia Grill, Serangoon Gardens): From a half-bottle. Enjoyable, if not exactly perfect. Nose showed mature Rhone notes of winter melon, herbs, menthol, incense, lavender and spice aromas playing on a backdrop of sweet red fruit scents. The palate was full bodied - certainly heavier than any of the other wines on show, with thick flavours of haw flakes and cherries, followed by meat, spice and garrigue towards the finish. The balance was okay on the attack, but I thought the acidity dropped a little towards the end, so that the wine became just a little plodding. It was high-time we drank up this half-bottle. Full bottles might age that much better, but I would not expect this wine to be developing much further than it already had when we got to it. Overall this was still an enjoyable wine with plenty of character. As would be expected, a great pairing with the wild boar in Montepulciano stew as well.
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2/5/2011 - Alex H wrote: 87 Points
A lot of garrigue and lavender. Thick fuller bodied. Leather and hide with rich aged fruit. Earth and lots of secondary fruit
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5/16/1992 - andrewstevenson.com wrote: 88 Points
The Oddbins Old World Wine Fair; 5/16/1992-5/17/1992 (London): Very Good.
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