WTNs (with a question) and a new blog

First, the notes.

Joseph Drouhin Vosne Romanee 1999

I previously liked the Drouhin Vosne Romanee '99 enough to buy a couple bottles, but last week my friendly neighborhood wine store opened some for a tasting, and it tasted OLD. It probably had some heat damage, because 8 years is far too new for the prune/oxidization coming from that bottle. I knew my own came from the same lot, so it was time to start drinking. The good news? My own were not suffering the same malady. The bad news? Something was wrong. The nose had the expected strawberry, sage, and some mineral. The palate started with sour cherry, raspberry, sage, and some meat, but then a bit of prune snuck in. Just a hint, not like the taster bottle. This wine, though, was acidic, bright, almost beaujolais-like, though not quite as much. It also had a chalky metallic taste to it. Was there some secondary fermentation going on in the bottle? This is not something I have previously experienced with Burgundies, so maybe somebody far wiser than me (such people are not hard to find) can help me out here.

Bogle Petit Sirah 2005

Pie-filling nose, with vanilla, yeast/toast, blueberry and plums.

Plums, blueberry pie, some unsweetened chocolate and a surprising hint of strawberry, with medium tannins and a short, but not sudden, finish.

Good QPR, but why bother?

And a new blog, Wine - Seeing the World Through the Bottom of a Wine Glass. A look at the world, politically, economically, environmentally, through wine. Mostly a place to park "bigger" issues that arise THROUGH, though not necessarily exclusively FROM, the world of wine. Do with it what you will.

David,

I think I know where you purchased that bottle/lot and I would urge you to be careful with your purchases of older vintages without asking questions. The newer releases are fine and they do store their stock reasonably well to excellent, but they are part of a chain and that is where you can encounter issues. Some of the stores in the chain are complete asshats about storage and if that store doesn't move a wine, chain management transfers it to another location--like the location with good storage. When I was ITB, we'd essentially refuse transfers from certain locations or would only sell them after tasting. Be sure to ask if the wine was transferred and from where, as some of the locations are little more than gussied-up beer stores.

Strange that you mention a metallic taste. By default, I've come to associate that with low level TCA, but I could be wrong about that.

BP