On the wane. Plenty still in there, but with this bottle the zing was muted, fruit a little dulled. Pretty well assembled glass, but drink up should you have some left.
Of course, with the label gone, every pop is another bit of history disappearing.
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Still doing OK, not so fresh but plenty of black and a litlle red fruit, medium bodied, smooth tannins with a bit of astringency. Medium finish. Good wine in it's twilight. Give some air.
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Bordeaux. ooh ah. What is it good for? Absolutely...
Apologies to Edwin Starr. What sane individual buys Bordeaux any more, except the tres and nouveaux riches? Not me. It's not entirely a fair stance to take because after all, there is the "wine lake" to consider, that is, an absurd ocean of Bordeaux available at all price levels and quality levels that tends to get lost in the wash. Maybe as a reaction to the high end price atrocities, I've tended to shy away from the region altogether. So this is kind of fun, a 14 year-old Fronsac from a middlin' vintage which if it ever had a chance was buried between the Right Bank successes of 1998 and the general 2000 tsunami.
This is on the downslope right now, but it's not devoid of enjoyment. The primary fruit lasts for about a half hour, and what's there is of a mildly joyous plummy nature, but dissipates quickly and is replaced by cedar, tobacco, coffee and a slaty minerality. As the fruit fades, it gets more ponderous, so if I could offer any advice to anyone still holding, it would be drink it quick and cool and soon, which somehow sounds like what Hem would say about it, though I wasn't going for that.
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This is very much ready for drinking.Rounded tannins which still provide a bit of grip, fruit still very evident but also leather, chocolate etc. Very balanced. Enjoyed a lot.
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There's plenty in this - not fruit forward and no heat richness but a good old -fashioned claret with nice balance of fruit and leather/choc/tobacco, well rounded tannins and a moreish feel. Like.
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wine has developed some bottle age bouquet. black currant and spicy oak. lovely deep colour. very fine balance with complex maturing fruit flavours into a long pleasing finish. lovely wine for my taste and for less than $30 cdn dollars this wine is a bargain and all one should expect from a bordeaux wine of this calibre. less than stellar vintages such as 1999 can provide great value and earlier drinking pleasure when handled properly by the chateaux. very fine effort.
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Don't think you'll find this one anywhere outside of Ontario, Canada. And that's probably a good thing! R.P. supposedly gave this one an 87, but if that's true, he was feeling generous. From the opening, this wine didn't show much more than mineral notes and a little bit of leather. It never really opened up and all I really noticed was the alcohol. I'll be returning my second bottle. I guess it's true what they say about the 99's.
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12/18/2015 - mark_m_owen wrote: 87 Points
On the wane. Plenty still in there, but with this bottle the zing was muted, fruit a little dulled. Pretty well assembled glass, but drink up should you have some left.
Of course, with the label gone, every pop is another bit of history disappearing.
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9/18/2015 - mark_m_owen wrote: 88 Points
Still doing OK, not so fresh but plenty of black and a litlle red fruit, medium bodied, smooth tannins with a bit of astringency. Medium finish. Good wine in it's twilight. Give some air.
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9/4/2015 - BcDuncan wrote: 89 Points
this was a perfect time to drink this wine, it still has lovely fruit and flavour and more than met my expectations; good value
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4/2/2013 - bevetroppo Likes this wine: 86 Points
Bordeaux. ooh ah. What is it good for? Absolutely...
Apologies to Edwin Starr. What sane individual buys Bordeaux any more, except the tres and nouveaux riches? Not me. It's not entirely a fair stance to take because after all, there is the "wine lake" to consider, that is, an absurd ocean of Bordeaux available at all price levels and quality levels that tends to get lost in the wash. Maybe as a reaction to the high end price atrocities, I've tended to shy away from the region altogether. So this is kind of fun, a 14 year-old Fronsac from a middlin' vintage which if it ever had a chance was buried between the Right Bank successes of 1998 and the general 2000 tsunami.
This is on the downslope right now, but it's not devoid of enjoyment. The primary fruit lasts for about a half hour, and what's there is of a mildly joyous plummy nature, but dissipates quickly and is replaced by cedar, tobacco, coffee and a slaty minerality. As the fruit fades, it gets more ponderous, so if I could offer any advice to anyone still holding, it would be drink it quick and cool and soon, which somehow sounds like what Hem would say about it, though I wasn't going for that.
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2/14/2013 - mark_m_owen wrote: 88 Points
This is very much ready for drinking.Rounded tannins which still provide a bit of grip, fruit still very evident but also leather, chocolate etc. Very balanced. Enjoyed a lot.
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5/17/2012 - mark_m_owen wrote: 87 Points
There's plenty in this - not fruit forward and no heat richness but a good old -fashioned claret with nice balance of fruit and leather/choc/tobacco, well rounded tannins and a moreish feel. Like.
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6/26/2011 - stinkycook wrote:
Tannins mellowed out. Very approachable. Pleasant with BBQ Rib-eye
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2/3/2008 - martha lennon wrote: 88 Points
wine has developed some bottle age bouquet. black currant and spicy oak.
lovely deep colour.
very fine balance with complex maturing fruit flavours into a long pleasing finish.
lovely wine for my taste and for less than $30 cdn dollars this wine is a bargain and all one should expect from a bordeaux wine of this calibre.
less than stellar vintages such as 1999 can provide great value and earlier drinking pleasure when handled properly by the chateaux.
very fine effort.
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8/18/2007 - kingofwine wrote: 84 Points
Don't think you'll find this one anywhere outside of Ontario, Canada. And that's probably a good thing! R.P. supposedly gave this one an 87, but if that's true, he was feeling generous. From the opening, this wine didn't show much more than mineral notes and a little bit of leather. It never really opened up and all I really noticed was the alcohol. I'll be returning my second bottle. I guess it's true what they say about the 99's.
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