2003 Bernard Faurie St. Joseph Vieilles Vignes

Community Tasting Notes (2) Avg Score: 89 points

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  9/29/2020 - SineQuaNon Likes this wine: 90 Points

  Better bottle than the last one. This was certainly an outstanding drinking experience. Similar to the second half of the note and maybe with a fuller, better balanced palate. Happy with the showing in this one

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  8/9/2016 - SineQuaNon Likes this wine: 88 Points

  From a pristinely stored bottle, bought upon release. Heavy sediment. Upon opening (p'n'p at ~14 C), it reveals pronounced animalistic notes with leather dominating. Swirling allows for the same red fruit to peak through as is found in his 2003 Hermitage's. It is reminiscent of candied/cooked strawberry. Fairly low acidity for a northern rhone. Tannins not resolved yet (will they ever?). Despite the mix of primary and tertiary notes it feels rather one-dimensional and leaves me a little underwhelmed/disappointed. Initial rating is 87p. Why did I keep this in my cellar for almost ten years? I don't find an answer. Let's see in about an hour, if decanting will do it any favours. .... Now, after sipping it for a couple of hours and allowing it to heat, it has blossomed ever so slightly to reveal a slightly floral nose, Côte-Rôtie like smokiness (NOT woodsmoke - I detect basically no oak related notes) and some chalk/graphite, which is more of a Bordeaux-like note. Still, these notes remain on the vague side, not very intense and are surpassed by the cooked strawberry and now some blackberry in intensity. The leather component disappeared. I will rate it 88.418 now (inspiration courtesy of Dan Kravitz). Very good wine falling short of outstanding by some distance.

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