Community Tasting Note

forceberry wrote:

Thursday, March 8, 2018 - 13% alcohol.

Moderately translucent dark ruby color with a little bit of developed brick-red hue and a very pale red rim. The nose feels somewhat restrained and, at first, somewhat metallic, but opens up to reveal dark-toned notes of ripe blackcurrants and other dark fruits, some leathery tones, a little bit of animal roughness, hints of leafy tones and a touch of pipe tobacco. Overall a very classic nose. The wine feels quite full-bodied, pretty dense and rather firm on the palate with savory yet still surprisingly youthful and pretty intense flavors of ripe blackcurrants, some tobacco, a little bit of peppery spice, hints of leather and a touch of mushroomy sous-bois. Overall the wine is structured and pretty tightly-knit with high acidity and firm, moderately grippy tannins. The finish is long and complex with somewhat developed flavors of wizened dark cherries, some fresh blackcurrants, a little bit of leather, hints of plums and prunes and a touch of tobacco,

A very nice and - for a +20 yo claret - still surprisingly youthful and stern St. Julien. Only the color seems to betray the age of the wine, as the nose feels very little developed for a wine this old and the palate even less so. At first the wine didn't seem that pleasant due to the metallic element in the nose, but fortunately the wine blew that aroma off pretty quickly. Overall the wine is pretty solid effort, although still surprisingly stern, even - I daresay - somewhat inapproachable now. Now the wine is good like a claret should be, but I have a hunch that the wine is still some way away from its plateau of maturity and it will start showing better in a decade or so. Obviously a wine built for the long run. Worth the money at 50€.

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