Excellent. This certainly held up far longer than the previous bottle from about a year ago. Popped and poured. Crumbly cork put us on the alert somewhat, and the initial nose wasn't that promising either, coming across a bit metallic and varnishy at first. Thankfully, it opened up really nicely with time to show nice red cherry fruit scents, a little touch of crushed violets, and lots of bloody ferrous mineral. These were chased by scents of earth and umami, just that bit of vanilla pods, and then varnished wood with leathery bits. Attractive to start out with, and it got more luscious as time went by, with plummy fruit notes and a touch of tobacco smoke wreathing out of the glass. Very nice in a stately, rather serious way. On first sip, the palate seemed a bit thinned out at first as well, again rather metallic, with a floaty haw flakes note at the back-end, but this also filled-in pretty well with a bit of time to show a really nice flavour profile, with some Bovril, beef blood, lovely prunes and plums, some black cherry, and loamy earth flavours that came up more and more in the glass. Some lovely gentle tobacco smoke swirled around the whole package, and towards the end of the bottle, some pretty dried lavender hints started emerging. Finish was decidedly mid-length, but otherwise a really enjoyable wine. Lovely fresh balance, nicely structured, with fine, slightly chewy tannins in the background, all helping to make it an absolutely beautiful pairing with red-wine beef stew. I found this gentler than newer vintages of L'Evangile and less plush and thick than some modern Pomerols, but it just had this lovely complexity and oodles of old Bordeaux character. It hit its peak at the 45 minute mark, and started going downhill ever so slowly after, with the ferrous notes creeping into the fore again as the fruit slowly receded. Time to drink up I would say!
What a difference a year and a half or so makes! Opened for 2 hours, decanted for another 2, this just showed brilliantly. Absolutely intoxicating nose. Super complex, so much going on, yet it was so beautifully integrated that I could hardly pick different scents out from the whole melange. There were sour cherries, bluberries underneath, bluebells, integrated oak notes, deep-set, rather savoury licorice, soy and earth smells and some strange high-toned Japanese momo peach and citrusy / waxy gooseberry hints. Some distinct peppery spice notes emerged as the wine opened up with time. There was some glycerol in there, which I usually do not like, but this actually added to the mix rather than distracting from it. Absolutely beguiling. Really great palate too. Rich, deep, resounding, yet incredibly balanced, and surprisingly elegant, even more so than the Pomerol we had alongside. There were solid meaty notes, fragrant black peppercorn flavours, reams of dark fruit and savoury earth spiked with a touch of incense and licorice. Nice sappy finish too, with fresh acidity washing through fresh cherry and dark chocolate flavours. A world of difference from the bottle last year. While the other was rather tight and brooding, this was absolutely singing. I can only see this getting better and better. Yum! And, as an extra bonus, this actually paired incredibly well with Elsa's chocolate and raspberry jam cake. The acidity in the wine was a nice relief to the sweetness of the cake, and the raspberry and chocolate in the cake just brought out lovely raspberry and chocolate flavours in the wine. It was an even better pairing with the cake than the red-wine beef stew! Who would have thought?
1975 Château L'Evangile 93 Points
France, Bordeaux, Libournais, Pomerol
Excellent. This certainly held up far longer than the previous bottle from about a year ago. Popped and poured. Crumbly cork put us on the alert somewhat, and the initial nose wasn't that promising either, coming across a bit metallic and varnishy at first. Thankfully, it opened up really nicely with time to show nice red cherry fruit scents, a little touch of crushed violets, and lots of bloody ferrous mineral. These were chased by scents of earth and umami, just that bit of vanilla pods, and then varnished wood with leathery bits. Attractive to start out with, and it got more luscious as time went by, with plummy fruit notes and a touch of tobacco smoke wreathing out of the glass. Very nice in a stately, rather serious way. On first sip, the palate seemed a bit thinned out at first as well, again rather metallic, with a floaty haw flakes note at the back-end, but this also filled-in pretty well with a bit of time to show a really nice flavour profile, with some Bovril, beef blood, lovely prunes and plums, some black cherry, and loamy earth flavours that came up more and more in the glass. Some lovely gentle tobacco smoke swirled around the whole package, and towards the end of the bottle, some pretty dried lavender hints started emerging. Finish was decidedly mid-length, but otherwise a really enjoyable wine. Lovely fresh balance, nicely structured, with fine, slightly chewy tannins in the background, all helping to make it an absolutely beautiful pairing with red-wine beef stew. I found this gentler than newer vintages of L'Evangile and less plush and thick than some modern Pomerols, but it just had this lovely complexity and oodles of old Bordeaux character. It hit its peak at the 45 minute mark, and started going downhill ever so slowly after, with the ferrous notes creeping into the fore again as the fruit slowly receded. Time to drink up I would say!
Post a Comment / 1 person found this helpful, do you? Yes - No
2000 M. Chapoutier Ermitage l'Ermite 95 Points
France, Rhône, Northern Rhône, Hermitage
What a difference a year and a half or so makes! Opened for 2 hours, decanted for another 2, this just showed brilliantly. Absolutely intoxicating nose. Super complex, so much going on, yet it was so beautifully integrated that I could hardly pick different scents out from the whole melange. There were sour cherries, bluberries underneath, bluebells, integrated oak notes, deep-set, rather savoury licorice, soy and earth smells and some strange high-toned Japanese momo peach and citrusy / waxy gooseberry hints. Some distinct peppery spice notes emerged as the wine opened up with time. There was some glycerol in there, which I usually do not like, but this actually added to the mix rather than distracting from it. Absolutely beguiling. Really great palate too. Rich, deep, resounding, yet incredibly balanced, and surprisingly elegant, even more so than the Pomerol we had alongside. There were solid meaty notes, fragrant black peppercorn flavours, reams of dark fruit and savoury earth spiked with a touch of incense and licorice. Nice sappy finish too, with fresh acidity washing through fresh cherry and dark chocolate flavours. A world of difference from the bottle last year. While the other was rather tight and brooding, this was absolutely singing. I can only see this getting better and better. Yum! And, as an extra bonus, this actually paired incredibly well with Elsa's chocolate and raspberry jam cake. The acidity in the wine was a nice relief to the sweetness of the cake, and the raspberry and chocolate in the cake just brought out lovely raspberry and chocolate flavours in the wine. It was an even better pairing with the cake than the red-wine beef stew! Who would have thought?
Post a Comment / Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No