Community Tasting Note

• KPB wrote: 86 points

  September 19, 2018 - Last bottle from a six-bottle purchase (at the Chicago Wine Company) The wine is very deep purple but I see an amber tint on the rim. Nose has a maderized aroma, like shellac, but the primary fruit does come through as a muted crème-de-cassis with notes of vanilla and carrot-cake. Palate is a bit muddled: the fruit is sweet but unfocused and once again you pick up that sherry-like note. The finish is somewhat short. Given that this is a fairly young bottle, I'll rate it as 86 and in steep decline. It was in a cool cellar since purchase, and was shipped in cool weather. No reason to suspect anything about storage here, and the source was very trustworthy. Just a wine that was best on release (I rated it 95, and have consumed all six as of now) and has slowly declined ever since.

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4 Comments

• Magnum PI commented:

  7/8/19, 3:01 AM - I drink a lot of CDP, and just purchased this bottle at auction. With my nicer CDP's I try to avoid the 10-12 year mark as it is theorized the wines may close down for a bit. In your opinion, does this have the stuffing to last another 5-7 years and still show it's class? I gather that you think it is drinking pretty well right now. Upside? Thanks very much.

• KPB commented:

  7/10/19, 7:27 AM - Honestly, I would drink these up. My specific bottle from 2018 may have matured too quickly for some reason, but even so, I wouldn't hold this wine for very long. The style that Clos St Jean favors yields wines that drink best soon after release, and at age 12, they definitely may be at the end of their drinking plateau. Still, if the cellar was colder than mine, your bottle may be in great shape. Mine is an air-conditioned natural cellar and I think sometimes the temperature has been as high as 65, because I don't actually use the a/c in the fall, winter and spring.

• Magnum PI commented:

  7/10/19, 4:34 PM - My cellar is 60-65, so similar to yours. I don't know if that is too warm to really affect the wine. Maybe it is, but I have been drinking wine from my cellar for years and it's fine. Although, I am going to try to get it colder soon. I appreciate your response.

• mimik commented:

  11/18/20, 6:54 PM - Had the same experience with this wine tonight . Almost like alcoholic stewed prune juice. Possibly oxidized or madeirized? Flat and probably flawed compared to everyone else’s notes on this wine.

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