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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Bottle and cork looked pristine with fill into the neck. Wine was a little tired. Some bricking and a browner than expected color. Carmel notes mixed with tobacco. Minimal tannins. Comes across as a ripe vintage with fruit thats past peak not a lot of complexity here, though did had a nice leafy elegance after couple hours air. Probably best to drink up.
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Bit of fruit left on the nose but mostly secondary and tertiary on the palate. Fantastic! Would drink all day, any day.
Tannins fully integrated, so smooth. Stood for 24 hrs, decanted off sediment which wasn't that much but worth doing, and then back into bottle aftsr 30 min. Followed it over a few hrs with duck a l'orange. If I had another I'd do the same. If I had to serve a group, decant off sediment and wait 90in to 2 hrs, boom!
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Not very pleasant after opening as volatility blew off and fruit dormant. Eventually settled down and opened up and actually reasonably pleasant, but definitely old and past it's peak. Drink up
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6/26/2023 - Blair Curtis wrote: 94 Points
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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12/30/2022 - jrlong_huang wrote: 89 Points
Autumn leaves. Mashroom. Slightly over peak.
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11/27/2021 - Nutty08 wrote: 89 Points
Bottle and cork looked pristine with fill into the neck. Wine was a little tired. Some bricking and a browner than expected color. Carmel notes mixed with tobacco. Minimal tannins. Comes across as a ripe vintage with fruit thats past peak not a lot of complexity here, though did had a nice leafy elegance after couple hours air. Probably best to drink up.
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11/28/2020 - WinoD Likes this wine: 93 Points
Bit of fruit left on the nose but mostly secondary and tertiary on the palate. Fantastic! Would drink all day, any day.
Tannins fully integrated, so smooth. Stood for 24 hrs, decanted off sediment which wasn't that much but worth doing, and then back into bottle aftsr 30 min. Followed it over a few hrs with duck a l'orange. If I had another I'd do the same. If I had to serve a group, decant off sediment and wait 90in to 2 hrs, boom!
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2/19/2019 - Mr T wrote:
Not very pleasant after opening as volatility blew off and fruit dormant. Eventually settled down and opened up and actually reasonably pleasant, but definitely old and past it's peak. Drink up
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