1985. Synth laden moment. Depeche mode. Tears for fears. But I digress. Just opened this. It’s quite a structured wine. The nose is a little muddled right now but that’s because I didn’t decant. That said, after 15 minutes of opening in the glass the nose is indeed tannic cherry skin. Musty and such, but that fruit profile is obvs right up front. I would say that the same is true on the front palate. Cherries with immediacy and extremely full fruit. That is what drives my initial rating here. So rich and definitive fruit. Finish not real refined but it’s only been 15 minutes and this wine has just had the wires jacked out of it Matrix style. It doesn’t know itself yet. Will post some notes in a few hours to see if the landscape has changed. Cheers! — 3 days ago
First time I opened one of these 1.5 years ago it was totally closed. Now it’s back open for business and lovely. If blindfolded, based on the perfume alone I would have guessed a Margaux like Palmer as it threw off tons of violets, graphite and blue fruits - gorgeous but a tinge of rough edge that blew off after about an hour. Palate still tasted young but had the complexity you look for in an older claret - spice, leather, graphite, blue fruits and a long finish. This is in a great drinking window but easily has decades of life ahead of it. — 9 days ago
Pretty concentrated ruby dress. Evolved nose evoking Burgundy. In the mouth a beautiful smoothness, concentration, between evolved notes and fruit still very lively. A pretty bottle full of refinement. It can be drunk on its own.
Can still age 5/10 years, maybe more.
Jolie robe rubis concentrée. Nez évolué évoquant la Bourgogne. En bouche une belle onctuosité, de la concentration, entre notes évoluées et fruit encore bien vif. Une jolie quille pleine de raffinement. Ça se boit tout seul. Peut vieillir encore 5/10 ans voir plus. — 24 days ago
Generally consistent with my last notes, but drinking this side by side with the Cote du Py does bring to attention the differences in structure. At this stage, the Les Charmes has a slight edge over the Cote du Py for me due to it’s lacier texture and distinct mineral streak. The Cote du Py looks brutish even against this wine. A fascinating study of Beaujolais terrior. — 2 days ago
John Tan
Racine tasting at WM. Depth and complexity. Clean. Elegant. Serious wine. — 7 days ago