I drank this bottle in the perfect situation: after a 3-hour decanting, at a nice restaurant, with great food. I tasted a sip upon first opening and I'm so grateful I had the time to decant it (score one for BYOB!). What was a tight, acidic Southern Rhone blossomed into an incredibly balanced, rich palate that paired beautifully with my short ribs. On to the details (these are all post-decanting):
COLOR - The dark garnet you'd expect from a great Southern Rhone. It wasn't that ink-purple that some New Word Shiraz's or Rhone blends have, but that didn't mean it was lacking any full-flavored punch.
NOSE - Real-old world stuff here: bacon fat, coffee, soil, minerals and wet tree bark with a solid background of dark fruit (especially black cherries). After the 3-hour decant, the nose had reduced in pungency a good bit, which was only a good thing.
TATSE - One of those rare Frenchies where the taste matches the nose almost exactly. The fruit and bacon fat stand out especially here and there's a pleasant smokiness that I missed on the nose. In the mid-palate there was just the slightest hint of wooded herbs (rosemary, thyme). Just a pleasure to drink.
FINISH - If this wine has a flaw, it's the relatively short finish. With a taste like it has, you want the finish to last for days, but it's pretty much gone once it hits your stomach. Still, at this price point (my was $26.50), if this is the worst flaw in the wine, you've got to be happy.
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2006 Château Pibran
4/20/2013 - lawsindell wrote: 87 Points
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2009 Domaine Saint-Damien Gigondas La Louisiane
2/23/2013 - lawsindell Likes this wine: 92 Points
I drank this bottle in the perfect situation: after a 3-hour decanting, at a nice restaurant, with great food. I tasted a sip upon first opening and I'm so grateful I had the time to decant it (score one for BYOB!). What was a tight, acidic Southern Rhone blossomed into an incredibly balanced, rich palate that paired beautifully with my short ribs. On to the details (these are all post-decanting):
COLOR - The dark garnet you'd expect from a great Southern Rhone. It wasn't that ink-purple that some New Word Shiraz's or Rhone blends have, but that didn't mean it was lacking any full-flavored punch.
NOSE - Real-old world stuff here: bacon fat, coffee, soil, minerals and wet tree bark with a solid background of dark fruit (especially black cherries). After the 3-hour decant, the nose had reduced in pungency a good bit, which was only a good thing.
TATSE - One of those rare Frenchies where the taste matches the nose almost exactly. The fruit and bacon fat stand out especially here and there's a pleasant smokiness that I missed on the nose. In the mid-palate there was just the slightest hint of wooded herbs (rosemary, thyme). Just a pleasure to drink.
FINISH - If this wine has a flaw, it's the relatively short finish. With a taste like it has, you want the finish to last for days, but it's pretty much gone once it hits your stomach. Still, at this price point (my was $26.50), if this is the worst flaw in the wine, you've got to be happy.
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2010 M. Chapoutier Domaine de Bila-Haut Occultum Lapidem
2/21/2013 - lawsindell wrote: 80 Points
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