August 18, 2023 - Blind. Iron, black fruit, cured meat, pepper and funky/earth notes. Medium-bodied. Lush, with flavors of mixed red and black fruit and cured meat. Medium+ finish.
Easy to pick out as the other Hermitage, holding on a bit longer than the Colombier in the first flight, however it does start to head downhill in the glass. Probably at peak an hour, or perhaps two, after being opened and double decanted off its sediment.
February 19, 2023 - PB deemed this gone - he is very wrong. Tasted over two days, does not move much, it's quite young with a core of chocolate, iron and black olives. While there is a whiff - just a whiff - of oxidation on the nose, it's not disturbing. A manly wine indeed, will only improve, I think.
December 24, 2021 - Might have waited a tad too long, but I'm still loving this wine. Just a hint of bricking around a translucent ruby core, the nose is full of balsamic, ripe red cherries, and figs(? first time this has ever come to mind). Soft on the palate, with bacon jam, earthy tannins, and good acidity all come together to make this super interesting. Probably better a couple years ago, but damn fun now!
August 23, 2021 - In a perfect place right now - full bodied, the vintage showing it's best, olies, tar, black fruit, a bit of a smooth operator, maybe, but there is plenty of freshness and local feel here. Has years to go, but no sin in opening one now.
#gastro
January 6, 2021 - Completely gone. Oxidized.
December 6, 2020 - This bottle was much better than the previous which was close to undrinkable as a result of strong cabbage aromas. There were still some traces of cabbage but they were much an element of complexity to add to the sour cherry tinged fruit, good depth and kirsch sprinkled finish. So this bottle was quite good but I expect more from Hermitage.
October 3, 2020 - CC Bday Wine Dinner 2020!: Dark fruits, meats, dried leaves, slight leather. This didn't quite leave an impression tonight but might be fatigue being the last bottle for the night. 89
January 12, 2020 - Two years ago I commented on signs of evolution including hints of cabbage on the nose. This evolution has got a lot worse with this present bottle. Colour shows a lot of bricking at the rim. The nose is quite porty or maderised with much more marked notes of cabbage. The palate is better but here again the notes of madeira and cabbage are perceptible spoiling some potentially nice sour cherry fruit and other elements. Without the warning signs from my previous bottle I might have noted this one as flawed. I advise people with this wine in their cellars to take a look at one of their bottles. Maybe I got a bad lot albeit from a usually reliable supplier. Close to the threshold of undrinkable.
December 16, 2019 - This is still a good wine - fair bit of sediment that needs filtering out (may have just been stored improperly). Also, needs a bit of air to integrate but it comes together nicely
Not overly complex but pretty good syrah notes - requisite bacon fat and pepper are present - with a decent amount of acidity. Definitely not a pop n' pour
April 27, 2019 - Northern Rhone Dinner at Marc's (DC/Silver Spring MD): Plummy nose. Mostly primary, plum and other black fruit. Light earth starting to poke through. Balanced with solid acidity and grippy tannins. Solid wine, but needed a bit of time to open up.