Community Tasting Note

NoahCap wrote:

Tuesday, May 25, 2021 - Purchased from SommSelect- supposedly stored in the domaine's cellar from bottling until 2020. Label looks freshly applied, cork is 1/4 soaked through, otherwise intact.

The wine is clearly in very good shape. The color is lighter than one might expect from Chateauneuf; ruby colored, transparent, light, the rim just starting to show a faint amount of bricking. Aromas are more aged than than appearance though with leather, hay, saddlesoap, balanced with a good deal of drying red fruits, mostly raspberries and cherries. There are aromas of dried herbs as well, sage and thyme. The palate confirms the nose, it's a tug of war between old leather and dried raspberries. The finish is short to medium.

The wine is good, is in very good shape, and yet I can't help but feel that the years have obscured the sense of place and identity. It tastes nice, and I enjoy it, but I'd be hard pressed to call this Chateauneuf if blinded. It tastes like generic old red wine from somewhere in Europe. I like aged Old World reds as much as the next guy, but not at the cost of typicality.

I usually don't grade wines, but the previous CellarTracker reviewer scored this wine 60 out of 100! That seems really harsh! At the end of the day, I did enjoy drinking a 27 yr old S Rhone in excellent shape for well below $100. I mean, how often do you get to do that? For that alone, I'd give it a B/B+.

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