1996 Château Moulin de la Rose

Community Tasting Notes (2) Median Score: 89 points

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  1/29/2022 - forceberry wrote: 93 Points

  13% alcohol. Tasted blind.
  
  Deep, evolved and quite opaque blackish-red color with a mature rusty hue. Wonderfully classic Bordeaux nose of a proper claret: fresh blackcurrants, some tobacco wrapper, a little bit of evolved smoky character, light herbaceous notes of red bell pepper and leafy nuances, a hint of cigar lounge and a sweeter touch of wizened dark fruit. Simply beautiful. The wine is dry, firm and quite crunchy on the palate with a medium body and somewhat evolved flavors of fresh redcurrants, tobacco, some woody notes of pencil shavings, a little bit of ferrous blood, a hint of gamey meat and a touch of wizened blackcurrant. Good sense of structure, thanks to the high acidity and moderately grippy medium-plus tannins. The finish is long, dry and moderately grippy with savory, acid-driven flavors of crunchy redcurrants and wizened blackcurrants, some sanguine notes of iron, a little bit of tobacco, light evolved nuances of meaty umami and a hint of forest floor.
  
  Even though this wine was from the same auction lot as the bottle we tasted a few months ago (which was noticeably volatile with aromas of nail polish and acetic acid), this wine was nothing like the one we had before. Unlike the previous wine, this was a textbook claret with great intensity of dry, savory and slightly herbaceous flavors with good emphasis on high acidity and firm tannic structure. Even though the wine is starting to show some age, it still feels like it is on an upward trajectory and will stay that way for at least a handful of years more. Very enjoyable at the moment and will keep on drinking wonderfully for many more years. A bargain at 24€.

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  11/25/2021 - forceberry wrote: 76 Points

  13% alcohol. Tasted blind.
  
  Somewhat translucent and slightly rust-hued dark red color. Very heady, volatile nose of ethyl acetate (nail polish), along with some sweet notes of cherry marmalade, a little bit of damp sous-bois, light leathery tones, an evolved hint of wizened blackcurrants and an acetic touch of balsamico. The wine is dry, firm and medium-bodied with quite volatile flavors of nail polish with a tiny acetic streak of VA, some tart lingonberry, a little bit of crunchy redcurrants, light sweeter notes of ripe red plums, a hint of bretty leather and a touch of tangy salinity. High in acidity with moderately grippy medium-plus tannins. The finish is dry, moderately grippy and quite intense with a medium-long aftertaste of sour cherries and tart cranberries, some bretty notes of horse stables, light leathery notes, a hint of tart red plums and a touch of tangy salinity.
  
  A surprisingly lifted and heavily volatile Saint Julien that shows otherwise good sense of balance, structure and intensity, but suffers from the excessive ethyl acetate character and minor acetic nuances that lend a subtly vinegary streak to both the nose and the taste. Without its volatile nature, this could've been a pretty wonderful old claret, but now the wine feels somewhat unbalanced and not that enjoyable. Trying to guess where the wine came from was pretty impossible due to the elevated levels of VA. This bottle wasn't really worth the price at 24€, but it's always possible that we just didn't have a bottle representative of the vintage (EDIT Jan/29, 2022: confirmed, this was an off bottle).

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