This weekend, seeing my stock of everyday wines declining due to the lockdown, I dug into a couple of more treasured bottles. The first was a disappointment and I wonder what is happening to the wine which has been in my generally satisfactory cellars for over 20 years.
1995 Château Pichon-Longueville Baron - France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Pauillac (25/04/2020)
A big disappointment. Dilemma; should I call this bottle as flawed or note it for what it was since it's likely that there are plenty of others out there like this? Outwardly there was nothing untoward about this bottle with a good level and a cork dry except for staining of the bottom millimetre and colour was quite deep with only a little bricking as noted already 5 years. However the nose was very subdued and the only aromas sherry like. The palate was quite dark and thin with none of the expected mature fruit and complex overtones and with the same sherry like undertones albeit fainter than on the nose. I've left two-thirds of the bottle in the decanter but expect that the sherry notes will be even more pronounced tomorrow. Hoping that this is a rogue bottle and that my remaining two bottles will give the experience expected from a 25 year old super-second in a theoretically good year.
PS the following morning: The aromas have opened up, especially the bad one which now veers towards cabbage.
However, the second was a delight.
2015 Girolamo Russo Etna 'a Rina - Italy, Sicily, Etna DOC (26/04/2020)
This is the first red Etna which fully recaptures the sense of wonder which I felt when I first met a range of wines from this volcano (about 12 years ago and Terre Nere IIRC). It is quite light in colour and no more than medium/light in body with a linear shape on the palate and showed beguiling cherry and strawberry notes mixed with a little kirsch, spice, fine minerals, suave texture and fresh acidity leading to a gently firm and quite long finish. The overall effect was one of quasi-Burgundian elegance in a slightly sweeter vein and a million miles away from the weight and heat of most wines from that latitude. Very good.
Posted from CellarTracker