APPEARANCE
Incredible ruby color that made us so happy just to pour.
ON THE NOSE:
WOW, I mean wow! Maybe we like this nose so much because it seems that FINALLY we have opened something worth drinking (we’ve had a streak of sub-standard wines lately, as well as more corked bottles than I’ve ever experienced in my life), yet don’t let that context deceive, this is an excellent and intriguing nose folks! This is a classic Bordeaux red wine nose with a hat-tip toward the new-world. Elegant aromas of relatively sweet, perfectly ripe fruit, subtle tobacco, exotic spice and body-powder, and floral notes that remind one of potpourri, or of your mother’s top dresser drawer, all held in place by a perfectly integrated structure of fresh earth – undeniable French terroir – and capped by an odd citrus essence. This nose does not disappoint right from the very start, and only improves upon aeration. We decanted this French beauty in an effort to bring what it offers to the fore; it didn’t disappoint.
Within an hour the nose seems to have transformed into something else, though not something else ENTIRELY; it is shifting, slowly awaking and turning over in the bed before getting up. Now it offers a strange mix of wood smoke, soft-shell crab, Brussels-sprout, with hints of oregano, a fine moment of saffron as well as red bell-pepper all served up on a dirt cellar floor, which is as enticing as it is … well … weird. Quite nice. Quite nice. As the night progresses the fruit comes to the front offering plums, sweet and sour cherries and black currants galore.
ON THE PALATE:
Although nice upon popping, it is evident that this bottle needs some time before consumption. There is heat that gets in the way of the true palate, but that only upon first pour, just minutes after opening (generally we just can’t help ourselves), so, to be fair, let’s give this little-wonder a chance and see where it leads us …
After only half an hour (yes, we’re very impatient when we open a good bottle) it begins its journey with a very nice powdery mouthfeel, fine-chalk tannins that still have some gumption, some rough and arrogant edges which are oh so nice. Quite a bit of what is described on the nose comes through the palate as well making this one heck of a complex wine. So many times when drinking this beauty are we reminded of one of our favorites as of late, the Spanish Bodegas Victoria Dominio de Longaz. The initial attack is smooth and evocative, then the tannins do their bit and the entirety slowly drips down the tongue for a heavenly finish that lingers and expresses itself anew, it seems, every other second. There is a wonderfully exotic sour cherry aspect here, but nothing like that stinging, acidic sour cherry of Italian Chiantis, this is smooth but sour at the same time. Don’t you dare think, however, that this wine does not carry an acidic punch, for it does, but it is so well balanced that nothing begs for center-stage, not the tannins, not the acidity nor the fruit nor the spice nor all that other stuff in there. There is a dairy-like creaminess here too, sometimes with that Crème Brule aspect that really keeps things elegant. This is fucking good wine, people, make no mistake about it, and for $21.21 this is an EXCELLENT value. Actually, I should really say that it sucks, because I want to buy a few more bottles and I have a certain amount of trepidation that they will be sold out by the time I reorder. (So, reader, please ignore this wine and move on – we have some very nice wines down here with pretty kangaroos on them!) But, whatever, there will always be more wine.
This is good wine, though.
Really good!
As time passes the fruit becomes even more luscious, succulent, with black currant, plum and cherries. The tannins lose their outspoken haughtiness and meld with the other flavors into a brilliant silky texture that makes one so freaking happy to be alive, and reminds Darcey and I why we got into wine in the first place. Gary Vaynerchuk, our hero, always tells us to try new things and never drink the same wine twice, but we feel this is a mistake. For one thing, we’d really like to see what this wine is like after decanting for an entire day (something I am sure we won’t allow to happen tonight as we are digging this wine so completely). Another aspect of wine is knowing a wine before bringing it to a friend; we’d like to be aware of what we are bringing when we want to turn a friend on to a good bottle, or, indeed, turn a friend on to the wonders of wine in general. This is not something well-accomplished through guesswork, and is another example of why it’s good to have several bottles around of the same wine that you know to be good. ALSO, finally, there are many nights where we don’t want a surprise, we want a known-quality, and this here, dear reader, is one of those wines. At over $20 it won’t be a general weekday quaffer, but I believe it warrants buying about four more bottles of this, if our meager budget can afford it (if not, then at least two more bottles).
This wine is not perfect, of course, just really, really good. It still packs a bit of heat even several hours later, which may calm down overnight.
(Click here for an explanation of our ratings ...)
Our Rating: 92
Would we drink it again? 
Oh yes, and quite looking forward to it.
Would we buy it again?
Yes indeedio, in fact I've already bought two more, and will add another two in my next case.
