rich deep purple red color, when first opened a rich nose of plums and other dark fruits, light floral notes, on the palate generous- almost jammy- cherry fruit with pronounced pencil lead notes and dark thornbushes leading into a final long finish with some chalk tones, over the course of two hours the tannins have become more prominent, but also the refreshingly beautiful scents of white wildflowers plus hints of intense little drops of cherry fruit coated with thorny brambles, violets and cloves, on the palate quite firm now but still approachable, chalk notes more pronounced, this is really quite an exceptional wine, it carries itself well- it has a certain distinguished air about it informed largely by the detailed expressions of terroir and grape, I think it would be quite fun to stick this blind in a Bordeaux line-up and see what people think, a beautiful and unique wine- the violets and lead remind one of Lafite-Rothschild itself- but this is an expression all its own and very much worth seeking out.
()+, 2025++ I would give this at least 5 years to fully mature but it may take longer and will certainly last far longer
Note - This is not only a wine worth cellaring- but for any of you who are fairly new to the Bordeaux region and want to try a 100% Petit Verdot wine so that you can better learn to distinguish its presence in a Bordeaux blend, this is the best example I have ever come across for that purpose.
Thanks for the note, Tom. I’ve got a few of the Petit Verdot in the cellar, but haven’t tried one yet. Should remedy that soon. Sounds like it would be good match for lamb with herbes de provence, no?
Nice writeup. Curious- what kind of evolution time do you think this needs? 5 years is a shot in the dark guess for me- but it certainly seems it will be very long lived.
While it should have a decent life ahead, I do really love the freshness of the berries and florals in this wine, and I wonder if an older version of it necessarily would be an improvement.
Does anyone have experience with the longer aging of PV wines? There are so few, I doubt there would be much experience, but maybe someone has seen it.
There is no reason why this Bordeaux varietal cannot age effortlessly, the question really is whether you like it that way (and of course, was it a quality producer in a good year). Here is my recent note on a 2005 Bolaire, which comes from old vine PV:
Finished off the 2002 Magdelaine left over from last night, popped a 2005 Chateau Bolaire. Drinking another glass right now. I have a soft spot for this unique Cru, which is comprised of about 50% old vine petit verdot. That’s pretty unique in Bordeaux. Leve’s site notes that some of the PV vineyards are 90 years old. The 2014 is quite nice and $15 and under. I do not recall what I paid for this 2005, but it’s a stupid value, and has aged effortlessly. Doesn’t really even needed to be touched just yet. Still opaque, barely bricking around the edges. Dark cassis and spice notes on the nose, hint of leather. Full-bodied, still a bit tannic, liking the coarse texture on the palate, fanning out with a range of dark and spicey fruits and a tinge of bitter green along the perimeter. Chalky, sweetish finish with a dark chocolate note. Really an excellent QPR. (89 pts.)
Of course, I have no way of knowing where the Briceland goes, that’s really a question for Andrew.
Thanks for that, Lee. The Alderpoint is the most straight forward and fruity with the lightest structure of the lot he has. The 15 Ronda’s is redder and least fruity. The 16 Ronda’s is a little denser than the 15, and shows a lot of potential as aromatics come around. I’d be interested in Robert’s take on the 17 Appellation bottling.