I managed to get my hands on a single bottle of this monopole Ramonet. With lots of anticipation, I pulled the cork but I don't like it at all and wonder if something is off with this bottle or if this style of wine is not my taste.
On the nose, I don't smell any fruit, maybe just a bit mineral and oaky.
On the palate, still 0 fruit, and just one strong dominant flavour which I can't describe other than liquorice and/or flinty bitter ?
I have had Ramonet and other Chassagne before which I like but there just doesn't seems to be any fruit in this wine and an unpleasant mouth coating flavor which I have never experienced before.
Any one got any experience with this wine perhaps or any idea what it can be?
by Wineman2
10 Comments
Do you have a picture of the cork? Sounds a bit like tca to me.
It might be corked—this is harder to tell in white wines than in reds, but it sounds like that may be the case here. Did you save any of the wine? An honest retailer should give you a replacement for a corked bottle.
When cork/TCA taint is more mild, you don’t get the pungent aroma of moldy basement, but you’ll get a really muted nose and fruit. I’ve had it happen as well with a high-end Riesling where it literally smelled of nothing at all and the palate was just acid and no fruit whatsoever. Either that or it could be that it’s in a “dumb phase” where it’s very shut down and needs more time in the bottle, but I find that to be the case more often with structured red wines like young Barolo and Bordeaux.
Sounds like some sort of low-level oxidation or TCA. In either case, not showing as it should be. If it’s low-level TCA, you might notice those classic tells of swimming pool or wet cardboard a few days hence. (The aroma gets worse over time.)
Normally I’d say “chalk it up to bad luck, corked bottles are part of the game” but … given it’s Ramonet and quite valuable, it’s maybe worth contacting either the domaine itself or their importer in your country to see if there’s any remedy available. Bear in mind that they may need you to turn in any unconsumed wine.
I had the exact same wine quite recently that was underwhelming as well, although that one was more on the side of oxidation beyond what I would expect from the age. Maybe just a bad vintage for this particular wine. Did Hurt quite a bit, though not a cheap wine.
Note: not long after that I had his Chassagne-Montrachet 2020 that showed allot better than this one.
I’d guess oxidation, I ran into something similar recently with a 2017 Puligny Montrachet 😕 all the fruit was gone
Might be corked, might just be super reductive based on your flinty note. Perhaps needs a decant or a warmer temp?
It’s not cork taint, it’s reduction. Lots of people crave that flinty goodness and it’s a trait that more world regions are trying to emulate. (Looking at you Willamette Valley.) Basically, it’s a yeast stress response to being starved of oxygen.
How much air time did you give it? Sounds like reduction..
Did you get spearmint at all?
I’d bet on TCA. not a sound bottle.