Community Tasting Note

• careyd Likes this wine: 89 points

  March 29, 2012 - What a difference another year of cellaring makes! This wine is showing much better than my last bottle, which was still pretty good.
  
  Color: medium ruby, clear. Nose: Eucalyptus, oregano, bell pepper...vegetal with red fruit (now more fruit) . along with a little earth. On the palate: Light, almost refreshing, with mild acidity and muted red fruit. The midpalate has a slight earthiness and tobacco and black pepper but all very delicate. The palate doesn't feature as much in the way of green/vegetal notes as the nose would indicate. The midpalate-to-finish transition has a little acid boost (now smoother), almost citrusy, and on into a clean finish that is short to medium on fruit, a little longer on tartness, with very mild tannins.
  
  This Chinon paired very well with tonight's lightly-salt-and-peppered grilled ribeye steak, grilled onions and parmesan greens salad.
  
  The wine is pretty good, not a life-changer, but certainly nowhere deserving of the low scores some have given it. I wish I had more reds like this that deliver a really intriguing palate, easily "paired" with a variety of home fare, and aren't just so big and monstrous. This wine enhances food.

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1 Comment

• Bam_Man commented:

  7/12/13, 3:42 PM - Agree with you totally on this one. I can't understand many of the brutally low scores either. For what it is (an $11 Chinon) this delivers nicely.

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