Classic bordeaux. Bright clear flavors. Graphite, cassis, perfumed. Nicely restrained and probably a decent life ahead. The vineyard is a real outlier with the wines made by the same maker since 1950 and some vines on original pre phylloxera rootstock. The transparency of vineyard and romance of winemaking combined. — 3 years ago
Major-General Sir William Biddles Curran
I drank a case of this wine in the 70s.Served double-blind. Deep, glass staining ruby red with an utterly opaque core. On the nose, decadent, sightly confected, red fruits...almost red rope licorice like...mixed with spiced dark fruits (plums and currants) and cocoa. The palate is more dark fruited with semi-sweet chocolate chips…the ones made with the natural vanilla, and some coffee but there is good acid and the tannins, which are quite fine, are also quite sneaky. Long, satisfying finish. This comes across as a fairly extracted wine and I wondered if there as some residual sugar, possibly some appassimento?? I was totally stumped. Revealed to be this blend of Nerello Cappuccio and Gaglioppo; the latter I had zero experience with but, apparently, related to Sangiovese. This is a wine of intense concentration and proved to be most enjoyable on Day 3 once everything became a bit more integrated. I don’t have a whole lot of experience with Calabrian wines so I’m unsure if this is truly representative or an outlier. I’m intrigued and I think that the quality is certainly there. Paired very well on Day 1 with Osso Bucco and saffron risotto. — 4 years ago
I love Australian Shiraz, especially with 10+ years of age. However, this bottle was advanced more than I expected
👀Purple color with clear browning
👃Dried cherries, anise, dark chocolate with a hint of volatility
👅Same dried cherries, maybe slightly stewed, and anise/allspice. Good acidity. Was generally drinking pretty well
I have a few bottles so I will check in on another one soon to see if this was an outlier. I was expecting this to be at the front of a long drinking window. Was this a volatile acidity issue? — 3 years ago
"This wine is dense and concentrated in a way that makes it an outlier among most Crozes wines". I should have let it cellar until 2025. — 2 years ago
Nose has juiced red cherries in stainless steel tank, dried grape vine, ripe black cherry, ripe blackberry, dry potting soil with trailing alcohol (13% ABV, seems more to us).
Palate has tannic cherry, ripe black currant, dried blackberry and steely notes. Still showing somewhat aggressive tannins, likely looking for another 10+Y in bottle or more extensive decanting time. We have noticed some mellowing of the more outlier traits in the past hour.
Decanted 4H. — 4 years ago
Ron R
As with previous tastings, the nose comes across as compressed. Palate displays butterscotch, caramel and unusually for this producer. a hint of wet paper. Mid palate is dense and weighty with moderate sweetness and acidity. Nice citrus fruit profile with a hint of pears. Good, but I consider this bottle to be an outlier. — 7 months ago