I've long held the belief that cookbooks and kitchenalia are a fascinating primary source of social history, and I should perhaps add wine to the list. Whilst not Earth-shattering, this estate's history engages architecture, political history, land ownership and, of course, the vines themselves, over the course of several hundred years. And here I am, drinking the fruit of the land from 1995 and taking in some of this history as I go. I prefer an expansive view of wine, considering social circumstance and history as well as what happens to end up in the glass. Anything else strikes me as unhelpfully reductive.
On entry, an elegant balance of acid and fruit weight. Very clean and focused, there's good movement to the middle palate. Medium bodied, there's considerable intensity of flavour, expressed mostly within a tight line that shoots right down the centre of the tongue. It's dextrous rather than supple or soft, and will please those who crave a sense of classical elegance. Still a bit puckery, fine tannins kick in pretty early and act as a prominent plinth for the fruit flavour. Some oak influence emerges through the after palate, and the finish is quite long.
For Cabernet purists (and the people who love them).
More than a year on, this wine has hardly moved. Still elegant, lean and tannic, I was pleased with myself for the "raindrops on hot bitumen" descriptor (it's an ozone-like smell), but more pleased to be able to note I'm enjoying this wine perhaps more the second time around. There seems to be more tobacco on the palate now, and there's a sense of florals that I didn't note earlier.
Still a bit severe and perhaps slightly muddy in terms of detail and definition -- still quite enjoyable. I like it.