March 25, 2024 - Four bottles over two years, all from great storage. The two most recent bottles have been very different from each other where the one before this was super elegant, fully mature, silky and extremly well balanced (94p). This however was dissapointment: Thight, tannic and quite bland. Over the four bottles only the first two was similar in development. To be continued..
February 10, 2024 - Tasted blind. It gave a lot of vanillla at first, and this combined with the acidity sent me to Spain. Lovely red fruit here, with floral overtones, very fine but persistent tannins. Only after 30 minutes in the glass did it exhibit some white pepper. Really good.
December 30, 2023 - Decanted for three hours. Drank smooth from the beginning. Smokey, briary, smooth with a small bite in the mid palate. Enjoyable, has a fre years left.
December 1, 2023 - A wonderful showing of this wine. Extremely structured but unfurled with great fruit and spices. So lovely and complex, in a great spot right now even though I should have given it more air than I did. Well stored bottles are definitely a candidate for a decant.
October 23, 2023 - Drinking pretty well, but definitely a bit dirty. Hard to tell how much of this was bottle variation vs. just the wine, but it wasn't obviously flawed in any way, just not particularly great.
September 19, 2023 - Initially unimpressed - all tart red fruit. Only after dinner (4hrs later) did the nose start to show olive tapenade (I call it fruit salad sweets for those in the UK) and the mid-pallet start to fill out. This is only medium bodied but there seems more tannin than usual so it seems to be taking ages to open. I’d suggest to hold 5yrs but not too much longer - will then go downhill. I prefer the 96,97 and even 94. 90-92pts
August 30, 2023 - Nose is cherry and cassis, savory smoked meat, sweet spices, tobacco
Palate is more dried dark fruit, smokey and earthy, vanilla, cedar
Light and lively, acidic, no heat at all, tannins fully integrated
August 15, 2023 - Supposedly a weak vintage for Hermitage? But drinking very well now. In fact the typical tannin and corse harsh tannin have been soften leaving behind aromatic notes of red and black fruits, leather, toast and spices. Medium acidity and medium tannin. Will not improve anymore. Drink up. Drank from magnum.
July 22, 2023 - Second bottle within a year, both very similar. Some bitterness on the nose but on palate it's light, fresh and elegant. Strawberry and cherry notes with a fine acidity (as others noted, quite Burgundian). Would say this is in decline now based on the bitter nose but still lovely.
June 18, 2023 - This bottle is past prime, with some fading fruit, high acid, dried herbs. Lacks power or energy. Red fruit, long tight finish. It's an enjoyable bottle for fans of well aged wine, and for those folks there are several years left to go.