November 11, 2011 - Fruity nose with hints of smoked meats. Plums in the palate. A little thin.
November 9, 2011 - Dinner with Lord Rayas, winecowboy, Gianfranco Zola, jpijg and a few others (Hong Kong Winevault): 2nd time lordrayas popped this one for me and it was definitely better 4 years ago. Kirsh and barnyard funk. A bit over the hill. Had seen better days but still quite impressive considering the vintage
November 9, 2011 - Uncle 7 dinner with DC, GK, DW and a few others (Wine Vault): expressive nose of sweet plum and tea leaves. admittedly a little thin and short, but very much drinkable.
March 25, 2010 - Definitive Rhone (Fabi and Rosi European Kitchen Austin, Texas): From magnum. As the bottle's provider said, "it climbed out of a cave and was delicious....then started to fade." I pulled one of the shortest corks I've ever encountered from this magnum (actually I pushed the mushy cork into the bottle and easily pulled it with a cork retriever) and was stunned that the wine was alive and kicking. We opened this wine simultaneously for twelve tasters and shared the bottle immediately afterwards with all. The wine was cloudy and smelled funky, "chicken liver metallic, but in a good way," said one. There was fully resolved, "mellow" (polite for slight) round fruit, with flavor notes of tart red fruit, cranberry, cherry, stewed tomato, soy sauce, rosemary, grilled meat, clove, cinnamon, fennel, and thyme. It had a "ham quality,' and the word "interesting" abounded. The wine climbed a small hill for fifteen minutes, then dropped off rapidly, and went back into its cave.
March 15, 2010 - Very farmy with bacon fat. Sweet and absolutely beautiful nose. A bit cloudy as it was not decanted. Sadly it died a horrible death in glass after second pour. Next bottle needs to be opened and drank within 30 minutes max!
December 19, 2009 - Very light, amber color. Some bacon fat, but mostly decay and sous-bois type notes. All tertiary, and little Rhone or CdP character - more just "old wine". A bit dirty. More interesting than enjoyable.
November 9, 2009 - nose was very fruity but initially overwhelmed by a burnt charcoal / rubber smell... Very farmy with bacon fat. Nose was very sweet and absolutely beautiful when the burnt rubber smell disappeared. Wine was very cloudy as it was not decanted. Died a horrible death in glass after the second pour...what happened? Only nose of black olive tapenade remained.