March 1, 2024 - Eight years since last tasted; time was very kind. Superb on PnP, great color, elegant, perfectly mature with vivid, complex aromas and flavors. Burgundian popped into my head more than once. Seems in a perfect place for my tastes though it does have several years remaining. highly recommended
February 24, 2024 - A point. Delicious red fruited CDP. Perfect with our roast squab
December 23, 2023 - Corked... will try to get that replaced from the disty.
December 19, 2023 - Final bottle - Aromas of baked red fruits and a touch of leather. Still plenty of red fruits alongside the earthy, dried meat and leather flavours that are developing. Maybe a touch lighter in intensity than the last bottle.
December 16, 2023 - A: pale garnet with bricking around the rim
N: dried strawberry, dried blueberry, black plum, black pepper, garrigue, cocoa/dark chocolate, earth, leather
P: dry, high refined/integrated tannins, med (+) acidity, full body, 14.5% ABV
C: very good wine = balanced dried fruit/tertiary with integrated tannins, aged with dried fruit but still bright/lively on the palate, med (+) intensity, med (+) concentration, pronounced complexity, long finish on dried strawberry and dark chocolate. Drink now - and enjoy!
November 23, 2023 - Enjoyed with Thanksgiving dinner, 2023. Admittedly I'm a sucker for aged CnDP. Didn't pay quite enough attention and am writing the notes the day after.
Opened for service around 530pm, decanted off a decent bit of sediment and allowed to air for about 1.5 hours prior to dinner at 7.
This wine gained a bit of depth with air, was initially a little thin on the palate. After decanting though it came together nicely and put on enough weight to support a rather rich meal. Really nice red fruited profile supported by your southern rhone earthy notes. I recall thinking the wine exemplified the typicity of agreed southern rhone, and that I'd probably have guessed that blind. Regardless, the flavors were a great match with your traditional Thanksgiving meal. I was actually surprised at how much fruit remained given the vintage, probably skewed 70% fruit 30% rhone earthy notes, whereas I might have expected 50/50 or even less fruit.
My only knocks might be that the finish was a tad short and drying on the end. Both of these pretty minor though, and with food negligible.
October 1, 2023 - Well, CT tells me my last TN on this was 2011 so 12 years later …(SpongeBob narrator voice😆)
Surprisingly light on its feet, really nice but not overly expressive nose, balanced and smooth palate with hints of dark chocolate, black cherry on start and finish (but not fruity finish). Garrigue seems to have faded into background, bit of eucalyptus. It’s not young but it’s really enjoyable. Still a bit (but minor) tannic “grip”. Good example of midrange (upper mid realistically for non wine geeks) aged wine.
September 27, 2023 - Meaty aromas with baked red fruits and green herbs. Velvety tannins and good acidity. Floral red fruits and black fruits on long finish. In a very nice place. Bright but fresh. Lovely. Touch menthol at the back of the finish.
August 26, 2023 - It took a bit of air for this to get going, but really satisfying on the nose. With fine balance and mostly resolved structure. Beautiful spicebox and raspberry liqueur aromas and a heady richness that never veered into heavy territory. Really a lovely bottle. Purchased on release.
July 5, 2023 - From a bottle purchased upon release and pristinely cellared, this wine was decanted off of its substantial sediment and serially tasted over the ensuing 2-3 hours. Deep garnet with bricking at the rim, it aromatically offers a core of dark plum fruit that is accented with Provençal herbs, baking spices, cocoa, white pepper, leather and loamy earth. Full-bodied, fresh, and with soft residual tannins, it follows with flavors that mirror the aromas. The wine's alcohol (listed as 14.5%) throws no heat when served at 60-65°F. Dense on the mid-palate and lengthy on the mineral-driven back end, this is currently drinking beautifully. Comparably cellared bottles should provide pleasure for another 4-5 years. Be sure to decant the wine off of its sediment and allow it at least an hour in carafe if possible. Drink now-2028.