My wife flew back to visit her family along with our 10 month old son – leaving me the first opportunity in a year to indulge in a nice dinner and a special wine.
This is the first BDX with some serious age that I have ever had.
The first thing to note: Upon opening, all I could smell was earth. Like dusty dried up dirt and almost nothing else. I took a small sip and got what I expected – a flat earthy note and a sour finish. A less experienced me would have been immediately disappointed, but I knew better.
About 40 minutes into opening, my food arrived. I got a lot of chocolate and cedar notes. Maybe a bit of minerality and tart cherry taste. It was very cool but I knew this thing needed more time. I drank one and half glasses, finished my meal, and took it home.
Once I got home, about 40 minutes later, the full power of this wine came about. Had this delicate velvety finish with other types of red fruit balancing out that initial tartness and all of these amazing background, notes of mushroom and iron and minerality. It was also supple and so easy to savor too and you didn’t feel this overwhelming mouth feel to it.
Amazing experience
rockytopbilly
Had the 2001 for Thanksgiving. What stood out most to me was how restrained and elegant it was. The velvety finish you described was on point. It was just so… soft? Paired it with venison backstrap and it was great.
Think-Culture-4740
I was thinking more about this. The other wine I’ve had that has been close to this age was Mayacamas and it’s remarkable how different the two wines are. Just totally different experiences. I know this should be obvious given how much location matters, but it’s still jarring if this is your first time tasting wines this old. I can also see where preferences play a huge role and how rating one vs the other is not an objective thing you can really do. Maya had much more acidity, tasted much younger, tarter finish and very subtle earthy notes. Calon Segur had more elegance, much more of that earth and soil notes and more subtle fruit.
Quite honestly more people need to try these kinds of wines to realize how diverse it is. I really wish I’d had more wine drinking friends.
4 Comments
My wife flew back to visit her family along with our 10 month old son – leaving me the first opportunity in a year to indulge in a nice dinner and a special wine.
This is the first BDX with some serious age that I have ever had.
The first thing to note: Upon opening, all I could smell was earth. Like dusty dried up dirt and almost nothing else. I took a small sip and got what I expected – a flat earthy note and a sour finish. A less experienced me would have been immediately disappointed, but I knew better.
About 40 minutes into opening, my food arrived. I got a lot of chocolate and cedar notes. Maybe a bit of minerality and tart cherry taste. It was very cool but I knew this thing needed more time. I drank one and half glasses, finished my meal, and took it home.
Once I got home, about 40 minutes later, the full power of this wine came about. Had this delicate velvety finish with other types of red fruit balancing out that initial tartness and all of these amazing background, notes of mushroom and iron and minerality. It was also supple and so easy to savor too and you didn’t feel this overwhelming mouth feel to it.
Amazing experience
Had the 2001 for Thanksgiving. What stood out most to me was how restrained and elegant it was. The velvety finish you described was on point. It was just so… soft? Paired it with venison backstrap and it was great.
I was thinking more about this. The other wine I’ve had that has been close to this age was Mayacamas and it’s remarkable how different the two wines are. Just totally different experiences. I know this should be obvious given how much location matters, but it’s still jarring if this is your first time tasting wines this old. I can also see where preferences play a huge role and how rating one vs the other is not an objective thing you can really do. Maya had much more acidity, tasted much younger, tarter finish and very subtle earthy notes. Calon Segur had more elegance, much more of that earth and soil notes and more subtle fruit.
Quite honestly more people need to try these kinds of wines to realize how diverse it is. I really wish I’d had more wine drinking friends.
Terrific wine. Which restaurant?