Vignes, which I love. And the style was great. Rich, full and dark, with excellent structure - a ‘manly’ wine, as we like to call this style. I wouldn’t say ‘firm’ tannins as they weren’t obtrusive - maybe ‘round’ tannins is the right word. Beautifully balanced, in whatever the right word might be. But unfortunately, it lacked the fruit or complexity to go along with that great structure. Very enjoyable with food, but not a wine I would spend time savouring on its own. I’m a bit torn because there are things I loved about this wine, but in the end Kelly and I both agreed on a score of 88.With that said, it is possible that we didn’t give it enough time to breathe. Normally we let a wine breathe and spend a couple of hours with it, but we popped this open at the end of a long day and it disappeared faster than usual. And that was only the first half bottle - we still have the second half waiting for us. But no tasting is perfect, so we’ll just have to stick with our initial impression, with those caveats tacked on.
Price: $28.72 (on Sale)
Score: 88 - first tasting / 91 second tasting, comments (see below)
Value: 3 / 5
Region: France, Madiran
Grape: Tannat (80%), Cabernet Sauvignon (20%)
Tasted: March 2009
Alcohol: 14.5%
UPC: 3372220021019
Posts
Here we are, three weeks after we first opened this wine, and we've just pulled the half bottle out of the fridge to finish it off. Those three weeks didn't hurt a bit! In fact, I like the wine better now than the first time around. The great structure is still there, but it seems to have developed more complexity. It seems it just needed air, or maybe a couple of more years in the bottle. Either way, I think we'll be getting more.
ReplyDeleteWe had this for our Anniversary meal. I Love this wine- one of my favorites.
ReplyDeleteNose- Cherries and Dark Fruit- Licorice like Black Bart Gum. Dank old wood or railroad Ties. And Olives in oil. I forgot how much this wine reminds me of the Olive Cart the Superstore used to stick in besides the Deli section.
Palate- Dark stewed fruit, Black Licorice liquor- Sambuca. Oily texture- some medicinal qualities. Grippy Tannins on the back teeth. Petrol nuances. Lots of secondary and tertiary flavours- goes on forever. Rustic in a great way. This wine was not made in a Lab or Marketing department.
Beautiful Cork also.
Absolutely has everything I seek in a wine, except Florals or Dried Flowers, like in a Nebbiolo.
Score 93
And Decanted 2.5 hours.
ReplyDeleteAha. Well, we liked the second half of our bottle so much that I now feel our 88 was a great injustice and want to make a trip to SJ to get more.
ReplyDeleteIt's a good week for anniversaries. In other news, I sort of miss Black Bart and the olive cart.
I went to SJ for more Montus and Feudi San Gregorio Falanghina on Sunday and I am in Edmundston on Wednesday also.
ReplyDeleteThere cannot be injustice when it comes to individual taste- Mood, food, and company all play a part.
What about longevity for this wine...What would you give it for a "drink by" date? I have a couple of bottles in the cellar and I estimated 2014, but maybe I should alter this...any thoughts?
ReplyDeleteGood question. Both Iron Chef and I found that it did well with considerable air - does that mean that it still has room to age? Maybe. I really have no idea how to predict how long a wine will last. I notice that Steven Tanzer never gives a drinking window in his reviews. I notice that a lot of people on CellarTracker say that earlier vintages are drinking well after 9-10 years, or even more. But it isn't really a fruit driven wine, so if it starts to fade there might not be much less. If had to guess, I'd say it might last to 2012, but I'm not sure if it will get much better.
ReplyDeleteI don't Have much experience with older Madirans, but The backbone of the wine is there, good fruit+ acidity so I could forsee that the elements are there for 10-12 yrs. Also a good cork is also working in this wine's favour.
ReplyDelete