Community Tasting Note

forceberry wrote:

Wednesday, February 15, 2023 - Macerated with the skins for at least 20 days. Aged for 12 months in French oak barriques and tonneaux, blended together and aged for a further 12 months in stainless steel and finally another 12 months in bottles. 14,5% alcohol.

Dark, slightly translucent blackish-red color with an evolved dried-blood hue. The nose feels sweetish, but more spicy rather than fruity with more prominent aromas of baking spices, licorice, some pipe tobacco and a little bit of asphalt, showing lighter nuances of strawberries and cherry marmalade, hints of boysenberries and raspberry jam and a floral whiff of violets in the background. The wine feels dry, dense and quite sinewy on the palate with a medium body and intense, moderately spicy flavors of ripe dark plums and juicy strawberries, some licorice, a little bit of toasty oak spice, light gamey tones and blood, sweeter hints of wizened dark berries and blueberry juice and a touch of chocolate nibs. At first the overall feel is surprisingly soft and round with the medium acidity and seemingly mellow tannins; however, suddenly the tannins just smack your mouth like a grippy tsunami, turning the wine into a very tough and heavily tannic piece. The finish is dry, more spicy than fruity and noticeably grippy with a somewhat umami-driven aftertaste of meat and game, some savory woody tones, a little bit of licorice, light sweeter notes of ripe plums and wizened black cherries, a hint of tobacco and a touch of strawberry. The ample tannins make the wine end on a very grippy note.

I actually quite enjoyed the tough, heavily tannic nature of the wine - and especially how it attacked on the backbeat. However, apart from that, the wine leaves a rather unimpressive impression. The acidity feels a bit too modest, the fruit is lacking some definition, the overall feel could be more vibrant and intense instead of just noticeably spicy, and so forth. The pieces are there, but not necessarily in the right places. This was a decent effort, but didn't really win me over.

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