Community Tasting Note

Blair Curtis wrote:

Monday, June 26, 2023 - I am reminded of the famous Mark Twain quip - the rumors of this wine's demise are greatly exaggerated. I had a few bottles of this wine resting in my chilly cellar for some later date. Then I reviewed the last couple CT notes on this wine, which caused me some alarm. Had I held these for too long??? Was the wine over the hill already??? Only one way to find out. Bottle popped and a glass poured. Promising dark color. Gorgeous nose - dark fruit, capiscum and autumnal notes. Wonderful nose. First sip - cool black cherry fruit, mint, capiscum, sweet leafiness, and then...a wall of tannin and a shortish dry finish. Hmmmm...the wine on pop and pour seems...too young...partially shut down!!! Decanted the wine for one hour - and what a transformation. As the wine warmed and took on air, it became everything I hoped it would. Perhaps more. The wine came into proper balance. The fruit level came up to meet and knit into the structure. The wine opened and blossomed. Chocolate and espresso notes emerged.

This is a delicious and delightful wine. Will it improve from here? I don't think it can get any better than it was with an hour of air...however, it is possible that some years from now the wine won't need that decant to get to full throttle. Is that an "improvement"? Maybe. But if you have a decanter at hand and an hour to kill, there is no need to cellar further. (Note that the wine was at its best between 1 hour and 3 hours open. After 3 hours open the wine did lose a bit of its vigor.)

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