91
score
Cellar Tracker
January 11, 2022
From 4.44L jeroboam, purchased at auction 13 years ago, stored upright with an annual, gentle rocking of the bottle to keep the cork wet. Base neck fill, unchanged over 13 years. Cork was snug but removed easily, a little too easily, and appeared saturated, shrunken, but otherwise intact. Decanted briefly. Hazy deep brick-blood red color. Bouquet initially musty and tired, but bloomed after 30 minutes to reveal lovely notes of lavender, mint, creme de cassis, dried berries, fallen leaves, pencil shavings, roasted cashews, hints of cigar tobacco, caramel, dried meat, and dried mushrooms. Silky and mellow on the palate. Despite initial concerns that this wine would maderize quickly in the glass, or might already be maderized, it actually improved significantly over four hours of tasting. Perhaps not exactly "going strong," at least this wine is still going. A unique experience, highly pleasurable and memorable.
