TN request: Pleiades XVI

[Jenise]

I've just ordered myself a case, but am wondering if this is one that shows well early (like the XII) or if it needs time (like the XIII)?

[David M. Bueker]

No idea, but I am really glad he's still making wine. I was worried the warehouse fire had destroyed the business.

And since you bought a case you can let us know the answer.

[Jenise]

No idea, but I am really glad he's still making wine. I was worried the warehouse fire had destroyed the business.

And since you bought a case you can let us know the answer.

I have no idea if I'll get the case or not yet (placed the order, but we'll see if it's still in warehouses). And besides, won't get it for over a week and I'm looking for a medium weight wine to accompany the stuffed capons with chanterelles I'm preparing for the wine club Christmas party right now. This could be a candidate.

[David M. Bueker]

I wish you could get that 2005 Clos du Mont Olivet Cotes du Rhone I was crowing about a while back. It would be a perfect match.

[Jenise]

Wouldn't it? I can inquire. Any wine that's in the state I can get.

Btw, found a lone bottle of the XVI today and Bob and I, lushes that we are, have already opened it although we're having a Bordeaux tonight with dinner. So I can answer my own question:

WTN Thackeray Pleiades XVI: softer than any Pleiades I've had before, less acidity and very little tannins. Very good for drinking now but at last (at least?), here's the Pleiades I don't think has any aging potential.

[Robin Garr]

I don't believe it's here yet, but as a fellow Pleiades aficionado, I'll certainly be looking for it!

So, a quick question - I brought a couple bottles of Pleaides into the shop this week, and one thing I noticed is that the labels are not the same. One has a moon on it (waxing I think) and the other has none. Is there any significance to this, or is it a random thing on his labels?

Dave

[Jenise]

Gosh, Dave, I don't know. My bottle had a moon on the label, and my XIII's have the same moon on them.

Btw, here's a TN from someone I found on line. He's verbose, but clearly he agrees with me about the wine's softness: the grape varieties used, in this case Syrah, Sangiovese, Mourvèdre, Barbera, Carignane, Petite Sirah, Viognier, and yet others unnamed. The choir of southern French and Italian grapes is led by the Syrah, and well led indeed. The wine has both a push and yet an elegant softness, quaffable and reflective at the same time. Ruby with garnet tinges, the wine gives my nose first a little heat, then a good dose of wild forest mushroom and dried leaves, followed by redcurrant jam, black cherry, dried cocoa powder and a drop of honey.

In the mouth I search for acid, but rather than me finding it, it seems to find me, almost remind me it is there at critical points. The same can be said for the tannins; they step back to allow the wine an essential smoothness but will not be ignored. On the palate the fruit, though restrained, is a brilliant mélange of berry, cherry, sweet orange and tart rose hips. A spice layer brings black pepper and baking spices like nutmeg and clove. The leafy forest floor repeats from the nose, with notes of wild thyme. There is also a well integrated layer of kernel and wood: leather, tobacco, cocoa and walnut.

There is a little caramelized sweetness I called honey in at the long finish with some counterbalancing bitterness and a note again of alcoholic heat. The arc of the wine—from nose to mouth and on to the finish—is extremely satisfying, and yet you could gulp this one with food if the need arose.

[David M. Bueker]

No significance. He changed the labels recently.