J. Calvet, Reserve de L'Estey, Medoc, 2004
The French have been around for a long time now; at least since the last millennium. So they are not afraid of time. And sometimes you have to give their wine some of that time back. This was one of those. You open it, swirl it. And it tastes ... thin! What's wrong with my wine? Well, just wait a bit my friend, and often a French wine will get better. And this one did too.
The nose started with stems, lavender, bark, dust, yeast, chocolate, leather, cedar, and Cheryl smelled vanilla. This wine even tasted like cedar (not just the smell). And the wine was flabby: super thing. Surprising for a Bordeaux. The finish was red delicious apple, red currant, and thimble berries (harks me back to childhood).
But then, over the course of an hour, this wine changed significantly. The body went from a thin watery substance to almost a medium bodied wine (weird!). The taste evolved into a red cherry for me, while denise found it to be strawberry and arugula.We all could taste more vanilla now. The later finish was more a granny smith than a red delious, but apple nonetheless.
Cost:
Rating:
8.0(55% Cabernet Sauvignon, 40% Merlot, 5% Malbec)