TN: 2004 Domaine de Ferrand - Châteauneuf-du-Pape (France, Rhône, Southern Rhône, Châteauneuf-du-Pape)

2004 Domaine de Ferrand Châteauneuf-du-Pape - France, Rhône, Southern Rhône, Châteauneuf-du-Pape (4/6/2020)
– decanted approx. 30 min. before initial taste –
– tasted non-blind over 2 - 3 hours –

NOSE: expressive; savory combination of olives, garrigué, and wet stones; smells moderately aged.

BODY: lots of sediment present; blood red color of medium-deep depth, with slight bricking at the edges; medium-full to full bodied.

TASTE: big; drying, medium-grained tannins; not funky; a bit warming from the alc.; non-descript, very ripe red/purple fruits; blackberry liqueur; big, and dancing on the line of overblown, but there is some pleasure to be had here; slight hint of old wood furniture, which I would expect to come forward with additional age; low to medium-low acidity. It’s a guess as to whether this has the structure to age nicely for any longer; the flavors are only mildly to moderately tertiary, so if the framework can handle more ageing then there’s still some room to go (10 more years, perhaps). I did find this bottle to be an improvement over one I had at the end of 2009. That said, the slight warmth from the alcohol, combined with the low acidity, make Drink Now the safe bet. Gut impression score: 90.