Annual birthday WWC hosting. As normal, 1 sparkler, 3 whites, 4 reds, 1 dessert, all presented blind.
Fun to open birth year wines around your birthday, especially when you can do a Bordeaux and Napa side by side. While not a great vintage, this held up well after a few hours and presented as expected. Clean and zero Brett. Great color! Deep ruby with hardly any bricking. Leather, cassis, vanilla pipe tobacco on the nose. Sporting a good bit of dusty red and black fruits (mostly tart raspberries and blackberries), there was a little savory truffle note mixed with an herbal and mocha finish. Still quite grippy. Pretty. — 14 days ago
Deep Ruby color with aromas of red fruits, cedar and baking spice. On the palate flavors of cherry and raspberry with toasty notes and cinnamon spice. Aged in French oak (about 50% new). Full-bodied, fine soft tannins, long finish ending with fruit, toasty oak and an earthy character. Nice! — 17 days ago
Medium ruby , slighter narrower ruby / pink rim , a little less bright . Slightly deeper , darker fruits , blueberry, violets , with scorched earth , mineral and grafite . On the palate , more intensity and power perhaps , more noticeable though still velvety tannin , dark fruits , mineral , saline , fresh cigar. Lovely fresh acidity , balanced alcohol . Long saline , mineral tinged, slightly toasty finish . Needs time obviously , but will be one of the great wines from a great vintage in 20 years, just wait — 7 days ago
Andrew Cullimore
Medium lemon yellow , persistent fine perlage . At first quite shy , needs a bit of time to get going . Then buttered pastry , confit lemon and roast nuts , quite bold and rich , just a hint of chalky minerality . On the palate the richer , deeper theme continues , those pastry and buttery notes , confit lemon and a creamy mouthfeel . Long balanced finish , the chalky acidity really helping to cut through richer , mouth filling profile . Coming back to this at the end of the meal , having sat 6 hours in the glass , this still shows remarkable freshness and life. This seems young to me still , certainly has everything for a long life ahead , better in 5 years perhaps and will show well a further 10-15 perhaps . — 7 days ago