March 31, 2024 - Air is your friend if you open one of these (at least 6 if not 12 hours of decanting I would recommend), and even then, still painfully young. Celebrating a new job for a friend we opened this….objectively a great wine, but left me wanting a bit more from it which I’m sure will just show better in several more years (or decades). An understated nose of raspberry, briar patch, and vine smoke that directly translates to palate, full of dark berry fruits framed by raspberry, green tobacco, wispy smoke notes, dark chocolate, and crushed stones. There is a lot of density packed into the wine - next to a few burgs, this wine took more “effort” to drink given its tannic structure and density at this stage, but nonetheless a fantastic wine. At the price point, I think there are better options out there, but still a very enjoyable and impressive wine. (++ upside)
March 6, 2024 - Tasted blind. Occasionally, a wine truly lives up to its esteemed reputation. This wine embodies the hallmark of a legendary wine, boasting an extraordinary depth, precision, and aromatic intensity, paired with absolute elegance and finesse. VCC successfully navigates the common pitfalls seen in many 2009/10s, presenting no signs of over-ripeness or excessive extraction. While it is undeniably open and well-balanced, there remains a slight untamed quality. However, in 20 years, this could very well mature into a perfect wine.
TN: Intense, expressive nose with a flurry of red and darker berries in all shapes and forms. A slight earthiness underneath. On the palate the same fruit intensity, mostly in the red spectrum and from candied raspberries to the freshest, purest strawberries. Layers of minerality, herbs, spices, earthy notes. Incredibly complex despite its youth and with an almost perfect precision. Ultra-fine tannin structure with a high but perfectly-integrated acidity and a wonderful airy texture. On the downside: it is so packed and so intense, that still another decade or two are needed for the wine to be truly enjoyed for more than one glass and out of intellectual curiosity.
Decanting: Decanted for roughly one hour, could have used even a bit more air.
February 28, 2024 - Tasting in Miami (Ken's Castle): Opened and let sit for an hour, then followed it for the next 2 hours.
Is it young? Of course, but these are so good, and I am so weak, that I have a hard time keeping my hands off these. Always enjoyable, and definitely good enough now that I don't even come close to feeling guilty for popping one open!
Nose shows plenty of florals, cherry and cocoa with some violets and spice. Palate follows suit with chocolate covered cherries, some violets, some spice, and notes of earth, tobacco and anise. Stunning, as always! 96-96+ and will still get better!
On a separate note....I last tasted this wine and thought it was closed down and figured I would wait 5 years before opening another....well, that was last year, so I obviously have no will power! However, I am now convinced that the poor showing last year was due to bottle variation. Hopefully, it was a one-off!
February 19, 2024 - Pulled this bottle during a dinner tasting and it felt completely out of place amongst some of the great Rhones we had already opened.
VCC felt a bit heavy but yet refined enough to know it was a great bottle but it was the outlier. I quickly recorked and replaced it with a 2011 St Joe that was absolutely a conversation piece served blind and was mistaken for S. African Grenache (Soldaat)
After 24 and 36 the VCC was revisited and finished. A bit of energy was missing which might have been left on the table between hours 2-24. Either way no regrets opening one of my favorite right bank wines.
Drink or hold.
97
February 5, 2024 - Decanted 1h. Intense and concentrated fruit of cherry and black currant. Iodine minerality, salad seasoning and sweet spice of vanilla beans, mocha and coffee beans. Hints of leather and barnyard. Outstandingly layered and precise nose. Grippy tannin, soft but perfectly ripe and matching the fresh acidity. Long and vibrating finish. This is a muscular wine with astonishing complexity that will easily age for another couple of decades before peaking!
December 23, 2023 - Meeting Delphine's Family (Scott and Amy's House): PnP (30 mins of slo-O) - but let it get about 30 mins of additional air in the glass. What can I say, I love VCC! This is still young and primary, but the fruit is remarkable and certainly still at the forefront of this wine. Lots of cherry (dark and red) with notes of pomegranate and some tertiary flavors of earth, leather and forest floor lurking in the background. This wine is still all about the purity of fruit. An easy drinker and crowd pleasing wine. Very different from the 2004 Lafleur that preceded it, but scored similarly for different reasons. Glad I have a few of these as they will bring years of enjoyment! Solid 96 tonight!
November 21, 2023 - Just starting to wake up, but still, there is no denying the incredible character of this wine. Opulent, vivacious, deep, long, intense, and seamless, the wine coats and stains your palate with non-stop layers of velvet-textured, perfectly ripe, black and red, cherries and plums with background notes of chocolate, truffle, and spice that allow black raspberries to show in the back of the finish. Drink from 2024-2055.
November 3, 2023 - Grand Jury du Vin - Republic of Georgia; 11/1/2023-11/9/2023 (Republic of Georgia then stopover in Paris and Dijon): Wine 31 – Perfectly ripe black fruit, truffle, and espresso. Silky and cool. A bit straightforward.
Afterthought – The wine that I rated 100 points during the EP. Need to revisit soon.
July 27, 2023 - Giuseppe's (Scottsdale, AZ): Red on the front, black on the back, the fruit on this VCC is hyped-up with beams of primary cut and fuzzy tannins that mark a wine that shows young and pulsating. There is no question the energy here is solid as a rock, with its best years ahead of it. Is it 5? 10? 15? years from now? I’d leave it alone through another presidential election before popping the cork on your next bottle. With air, it really starts to open up with darker and blacker fruit emerging. Black licorice, graphite, and cassis elements add interest.
This is one of those wines that needs accentuated “+++”s after its score, with the potential worth more than its current presentation overall. The elements are crazy chiseled and focused, but even with 13 years under its belt, it is not enough time. Here’s hoping it will unfold and evolve with a bit more poise over the next 4-5 years. Given how it progressed with O2 over the course of the evening, I’m confident this will be a glorious wine with just a little more patience. 94-95+++ points.
July 24, 2023 - Wines That Don't Suck at Ciao Bella: See I'D RATHER's note for bottle treatment. This was extraordinarily deep and rich, while also being rather shy. Kind of a burly dense Bordeaux that seemed to require more time in cellar.