This was one of those wines I had no Boudauhope for. I found it in the wine cellar and said, 15 year old Roussillon, I’ll be lucky if it’s any good. Now let’s see if my assumption was right.
Upon Opening … Cork breaks in half – hurray for my Durand opener, these things are a life saver with older wines. I push the broken piece back in and the cork comes out clean and intact.
AROMAS … Dusty and spicy with subtle dried fruit (these are freeze-dried strawberry like nuances).
TASTE … Intriguing – fruitier than the nose lets on, relatively smooth and clean; finish has the spice and acidity. Where is this going? I actually want to find out. I think I was wrong to under estimate this bottle.
Open 1 hr … Super smooth and silky, fruit is dried and smoky, but subtly so. Most is of the dark-ish fruit variety with hints of licorice and mocha.
Open 1.5 hrs … Silky smooth still, and really easy across the palate – exactly where you want it to be. There’s fruit (dried), spice and acidity all nicely balanced. If the wine stays here I’ll be a happy camper.
Open 2.5 – 3 hrs … Still smooth, but the best of this wine’s moments are starting to fade from view. Now we are on the downhill glide – I’ll stop here and put this one to bed..
Bottom Line … For a wine I expected nothing from this over-delivered. I was happy there was still some fruit to show, and although dried it was a nice foil for the acidity and was balanced by the spice; for awhile it was a pure pleasure to drink. If you’ve got any of this – drink it now.