WTN: Is this bottle of Gazin flawed or just ageing badly?

I was really looking forward to fresh chicken from a local farmer cooked with asparagus and paired with this Merlot (85%) dominated Pomerol, having experienced before that asparagus and this grape is not a bad match.

My dinner was quite spoilt by a weird aroma which I have never met before.

1999 Château Gazin Pomerol - France, Bordeaux, Libournais, Pomerol (4/26/2015)
This bottle was a big disappointment. I wondered if I should note it as flawed but maybe other bottles are turning out like this. At first I thought the aromas of spice and red, cherry tinged, fruit presaged an honourable Pomerol but rapidly they were overwhelmed by a pasty aroma which reminded me of cement mixers on a building site. The medium bodied and quite round palate started off better but soon the cement mixer dominated there too. Air exposure seemed to accentuate the problem. Does anyone have any idea what is going on here? We could not finish the bottle. A generous snifter of Dupont's Hors d'Âge Calvados was a consolation.

Posted from CellarTracker

[David M. Bueker]

Sounds like low level TCA to me, especially as it became more prominent over time. Not the classic "corked" aromas, but really not that far off.

Another vote for low level TCA!

Greetings from Sweden / Fredrik L

Sounds like low level TCA to me, especially as it became more prominent over time. Not the classic "corked" aromas, but really not that far off.

You may be right. If cork taint it was, "low level" would no longer describe it after a few minutes. I have another bottle which I'll open quite soon with something else in reserve in case it turns out to be the same.

Tim, looks like a few folks in the UK are going to open a bottle and check it out! There has been a very interesting discussion over there eh? My minerality thread is hotting up too .