February 17, 2024 - Mixed Bag at Irene's (Irene's House, St. Paul): Medium red color with a 1cm transition to clear. PNP, drank a glass over an hour plus. Iron, meaty, black cherry, pepper, some riper berries, a bit more rustic than I'd expect for Volnay, but very good indeed.
January 2, 2024 - Corked
December 15, 2023 - Robert's Holiday Dinner at Margaux's Table (Margaux's Table, White Bear Lake, MN): Medium dark red color. PNP, drank a glass over an hour plus. Lots of bottle stank to start, then it seems to work itself out; dark and deep, dark cherry, iron, funky earth and dried herbs, almost oily in texture and viscous, good, but not as good as a recent bottle that had more nuance.
December 15, 2023 - Robert's Holiday Party (Margaux's): This is a nice nuanced wine and will appeal to others more than I. At this stage, much more of a terroir wine than a fruit wine, although some red fruit was still present. Very delicate and nuanced, and those who love contemplating what they are drinking will get more enjoyment from this wine than I. Light cherry, some spice, earth and bramble with very slight hints of white or black peppercorn. I think this is past its prime, but others enjoyed it much more than I. 91 now and likely better for my palate a few years ago.
December 15, 2023 - Robert's holiday get-together: I believe this was pop and pour, drank a small glass over at least 2 hours. This started out in a weird place, with a musty dank nose. This blossomed into a floral and fresh palate with cherry and wet rocks. The palate was nearly as good as the nose.
December 1, 2023 - On opening, this had a haunting nose of dark berries and earthy Pinot fruit, but shut down hard on the mid-palate and had practically no aftertaste. After a couple of hours in a decanter it had opened up, but was very, very tart and acidic. This was continuing to round out at the 3-hour mark, and was better with food, but, consistent with the last bottle that we tried, it just isn't showing very attractively at this point.
November 25, 2023 - A night with neighborhood friends: Wow, this is drinking really well right now. It followed and contrasted a dense Sonoma Pinot. Earthy, savory raspberry and dark berries. Very good showing.
September 10, 2023 - Drinking beautifully now with layers of gentle red fruited flavours, and more savoury dusty, earthy, and other tertiary notes all coming together into a seamless whole. The fruit's playing a supporting role to the developed flavours here, though there's still a nice sense of freshness and vibrancy to it. Could have sat with this for a long time if there weren't so many other terrific wines at the table.
May 20, 2023 - On pop and pour the nose was quite beautiful with wild strawberries and roses as previously commented. The palate, however, was a bit hollow in the middle. I was not happy with the presentation.
We corked up the rest and had it the next night… It has really evolved quite nicely. Whereas the nose was fairly full, it is now slightly more muted, but in contrast, the palate, which was quite dry, now has now filled out with more fruit and is quite delicious. Well balanced throughout; very nice.
Overall an interesting wine and worth considering. Maybe a decant? Or an overnight slow ox? Might look forward to other bottles of these.
January 27, 2023 - Lovely bottle with dinner. Strawberry, cherry, currant, savory spice, earthy minerals; nicely structured. This was just what we needed tonight.