April 19, 2024 - Bob's cellar. Pnp - ruby red, evident bricking. Nose has a reductive funk, very distant red cherry, black pepper, twist of liquorice and menthol, a sharp red acidity edge. Muted on tasting, faded acidity, all very subdued. Hmm! Needs to evolve. A few hours later the nose has developed more dark fruit, black cherry, and the bright acidity is still very present. Taste has developed too, tannins are firm, bright redcurrant is sharply there, some cigar box and compost base layer, earthy and mushrooms. Mature and ok, not that exciting. Agree with others on this needs drinking up.
April 8, 2024 - Total Eclipse Wine. Decanted two hours.
Past its peak. A rather fine nose of muted fruit and leather. Palate of faint fruit, leather and soil. Finish was 5 seconds, then gone without a whisper.
Glad to have had this experience. All the heart and toil people put into crafting this light held together with moisture shouldn’t be so negated by someone like me who is passing judgement while I have a day job clicking a mouse and a wondering which past fork in the road I choose unwisely. So, while no <pause> moment for me, I felt lucky and good to have a taste of this.
Also, the Total Eclipse was fucking awesome. The biblical awesome, not the present-day shadow of the word.
March 31, 2024 - At last, this wine is reaching its maturity and patience is rewarded
March 17, 2024 - This moved with us multiple times cross-country and sadly had very little fruit evident. Both Bordeaux and burgundy sommelier stems showed more tannic depth than std cab stems, but neither could breathe more life into this tired lady. NR
March 15, 2024 - Alive and kicking. With a soft herbal note and a languid palate. Time to drink up!
March 10, 2024 - Final bottle from a half case consumed over the past 10 years. Not decanted. Initial savory impression gave way to a clean, lean wine featuring notes of iron, blackberry, wild raspberry. Mature but not tertiary. I would guess that it doesn't improve from here.
March 3, 2024 - This is finally getting to the right place. It is earthy and integrated. The fruit is soft but delicious. I would give this, at least a tour decant before drinking. It is refined and wonderful, but don’t pair with a large steak. Instead, a nice pork or chicken would be a much better pairing
February 21, 2024 - Cork in great condition, sealing well with about 1/3 penetrated. Immediate wonderful cabernet aroma from the bottle. Double decanted revealing a small amount of very fine tannin solids. Rather shy at first with red fruits, pencil lead and some spice tones with excellent acidity. Presented blind 4 hours later. Wow, really came alive now. Dark dense maroon barely showing 10 years age. Brooding wonderful nose of blackberry and blackcurrant fruit with some dusty cedar, lifted violet, coffee and all spice aspects. Wow, really intense cabernet palate having strong cassis drive, not a hint of over-ripeness in fact quite taut still. After an hour, really opening up showing some smooth fine tannin mouthfeel with such utterly correct cabernet flavours and great intensity and length. No hint of French rustic winemaking, this is a beautiful clean wine with plenty of time left for good bottles (I hope my last one is this good).
February 15, 2024 - Probably just past peak. Came off as 'thinner' than other recent older Calons ('95 and '96). Decanted for 2 hours on day 1, definitely picked up a bit of weight, and was probably just a tad better on Day 2. Based on this experience/bottle, my recommendation would be to drink in the near term.
February 4, 2024 - very good; PnP and enjoyed this with friends who came over last minute; i found the nose a bit muted but the mouthful and finish elegant, enjoyable and pretty