Trying to decide between Burgundy and Rhône with tonight's Poulet Cocotte "Grand-Mère," we started by opening a Robert Chevillon 2001 Nuits-St.-Georges 1er Cru "Les Cailles" that was so badly corked I could actually smell the TCA as soon as the worm got about 2 cm into the cork. Feh. Although at least I didn't dirty a glass. But...
The other option was a Ogier 2001 VdP des Collines Rhodaniennes Syrah "La Rosine" that I'd lost track of and was now worried would be over the hill. I needn't have worried: this is in a marvelous place, marvelous enough to wipe away my Chevillon tears. Still some bright primary fruit at the core, but surrounded at first by a tense combination of flowers and grilling meat; then a long, silken trail that shifts into a minerally register as it decays, like one of those chrysanthemum fireworks that, just when you think it's about to fade out, shifts to a new color. There's still some perceptible tannin here, but not much; still, if I had more of these I wouldn't be in a hurry. Makes me very, very optimistic about the two Ogier C-R's from the same vintage I've had squirrelled away.