2017 Château de Valcombe Costières-de-Nîmes Garance

Community Tasting Notes (3) Avg Score: 89 points

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  10/28/2021 - Duncan wrote: 89 Points

  With a case of this wine staring at me every time I need a bottle of red, it's something I return to every six or nine months. Each time I wonder if it will really speak to me, or if it will just sit in the glass silently, with only the occasional mutter about how great it is but no genuine communication. Tonight...no great conversation...but not total silence. What I experienced as distinct brettiness previously is still there, but not to the fore. What IS to the fore? Dark brooding fruit, acidity, a certain cherry liqueur sensation on the finish. More pleasant than any previous experience - with roast lamb - but still not persuading me it should be a 90+ wine. See you in another six months... 14.5%, cork.

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  2/28/2021 - Duncan wrote: 89 Points

  Dark purple, pretty much opaque. As I've come to expect with this wine, there's a distinctly bretty nose, though that seems to come and go over the hours and days it's open. Acidity is very prominent for the first couple of hours, but somehow gradually reduces in impact. I don't know if that is scientifically possible - ask Jamie Goode! - but it's a very clear impression. My feeling is that this has mellowed a bit since my last bottle six or so months ago, and the mellowing is an improvement. Still, I'm not that keen on the bretty aromas, and it has some way to go before it breaches my 90-point boundary. Cork, 14.5%.

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  7/3/2020 - Duncan wrote: 89 Points

  Dark ruby at its core, lightening swiftly from there. Perplexing nose that sometimes seems just bretty, sometimes like steak and kidney pie! The palate is surprisingly light and low in tannin - notable acidity AKA minerality. It is almost a great wine, but I just can't get over that bret aroma. 14.5%, cork.

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