Beautiful golden color. On the nose: honeysuckle, lemon custard, just a touch of melon. Lush, full palate, but medium acid that appears mostly at the end, along with a little bitter tanniny note that is quite nice. Lemon, nuts, beeswax.

I was very confused by the wine. I guessed that it was 15 years old, and mostly because of the honeysuckle, the roundness of the palate, and the slight bitter snap at the end I guessed a N. Rhone white, possibly Condrieu. I was surprised to see the Joly -- especially as much of a fanboy as I am. (Though I have not had any older vintages of the Coulee de Serrant.)

I do love this wine!

Dried cherry, pine, forest floor, earth on the nose. On the palate, meat, cherries, and mushrooms.

I guessed this as a 15 year old Grenache-driven wine from the Southern Rhone. (A solid pick, but I should have gone all of the way to CdP.)

The biggest danger to this wine is the cork. It was fairly soaked through. I got almost all of it out, but a portion of it fell into the wine, and I think this contributed to some of the musty and wet-wood odor and flavors we got out of it.

Behind that, though, there was still some red fruit, some tabacco, camphor and herby flavors, and some structure provided by remaining acids and fine tannin at the end.

Very lively nose, with fruit, spices, and savory smells. The palate is balanced and very compelling. This wine was quite delicious. Wish I'd kept better notes, but fortunately I have another few bottles.