December 8, 2023 - Picked up on closeout at random liquor store for $21 while I was bourbon hunting. Decanted for 2 hours.
Very light bricking at the rim. It would be difficult to tell that the wine is 10 years old on appearance alone. Med + legs that show quite a bit of extraction. Stains the glass quite easily.
A bit simple on the nose. There's some blackberry and blueberry, alongside cooked bacon and crushed peppercorn. The unsweetened cocoa and ground espresso bean notes from the oak have not integrated well and are overpowering. There's some crushed violet and herbal notes underneath the surface that are obscured by the oak.
On entry, the wine starts with some nice tart blue and dark fruits. Spent coffee grounds and bacon smoke start to muddy up the wine's nuances on the mid-palate and add some ambiguous character to the finish. Acid is the wine's saving grace here as it carries the fruit through the murky mid-palate and cuts through a long finish that would otherwise be ruined by oak. Tannins probably need another few years to further resolve as they're still overly dry and chunky. It's possible that the fruit has peaked
Overall, this wine is a bit maddening because it keeps suggesting to you what it could be (violets! garrigue! lavender! peppercorn!) and then just buries those secondary and tertiary aromas/tastes with oak. For the price, it's fine and has a very long finish that would pair well with barbecue and grilled meats. But it just isn't as satisfying as many of the region's other wines can be from well-known producers for similar prices when not on sale (in between $25-$35 USD). It's possible that the fruit peaked some years ago, but I can't make that distinction because I haven't had enough aged northern Rhone wines to do so reliably.
January 22, 2021 - Had it with some ptarmigans from the norwegian mountains.
October 5, 2020 - Very fruity and ready to drink.
February 2, 2020 - Medium-deep red. A whiff of cherry, some dust, not complex but pleasant. Good for short ribs.
January 12, 2020 - Rather simple quaffer!
March 22, 2019 - Quite a ripe vintage. Lots of lip-smacking dark berry fruit here. Very good acidity. Nicely structured and balanced.
January 26, 2019 - Very good wine for the price. Dark red/purple, spice notes and nice finish. Great on a cold winter day.
November 25, 2018 - Very nice
June 22, 2018 - Beautiful berry aromas and rich purple colour. Soft and luscious. Very good wine for the price.
June 20, 2018 - Pleasant but just that. Missing the power I prefer and more commonly find in Australian Shiraz.