From a half magnum left over from last summer that I had coravin’d, and kept to see what would happen (both in regards to having used my coravin on it a year ago and aging the rose in general). Wow, this wine is shockingly good. Pale salmon/orange in color, with nice strawberry and grass notes on the nose. On the palate, this is MUCH fresher than I would have expected. Not as crisp as a new vintage, but it’s held up really, really well with strawberries, herbs, and a slight hint of watermelon. The finish is long and definitely has a more tart and slightly bitter (in a good way) aspect to it due to the age. Damn impressive and very enjoyable.
So do I like it ‘better’ than a recent vintage Tempier? I’m not sure about that and I don’t think it’s even really fair to compare the two…but this has aged incredibly well for a rose, and is going down very, very easily
And on a side note…hi-five to my coravin for doing its job. I typically use it for short term preservation, but this is a solid longer-term success story.
Anyway, I’m not clear if you are just surprised that the coravin held the half-full bottle for so long, or that you are thinking that the wine was getting old at five years. Tempier can go for many, many years.
And it’s a little of both. Can’t say I had that much faith in the coravin holding up for a year, while at the same time, I know it’s always ‘debated’ as to whether rose can age well and gain complexity, and if it’s even worth it. Obviously Tempier may be more the exception than the rule…but I was still happy with this rose at 5 years out.
I discovered several 2009 Tempier Roses in my cellar while looking for something else. Surprise, surprise, the one I opened was alive and tasty, maybe not as vibrant as the current vintage would be but certainly not a throwaway. I’ve long thought that Tempier Rose would be best with 1-2 years of bottle (though not necessarily eight years).
DoctorJay
Nice Jay. Honestly, the 2012 I drank made me wish I had another one to hang onto for even longer, as it was still shockingly fresh. Would be fun to try one at 8 years out, especially since it sounds like yours was tasty
