My cousin had flown in from Oregon yesterday and he came by the house tonight for a bit to catch up, as it’s been some time since I last saw he and his family. So what better excuse to open this bottle than for someone who’s never had a Douro dry wine. Although he likes wine, he’s not a “wine nerd” like the rest of us, but he has a decent palate for picking out what he likes and doesn’t.
I took no formal notes on this for obvious reasons. But we enjoyed this over a couple of hours and during that time it got more expressive with darker fruits and better body weight. Some tar and cherries on the nose, and maybe a touch of graphite. While this was an enjoyable bottle that showed at it’s best around 1-hour after opening, I kept getting something on the palate that seemed odd. I couldn’t quite place it at first, mainly because I was more interested in our conversation than the wine, and it got more noticable as time went on. But mixed in with some bold tannins was this odd mid palate taste of sulfer that kept coming up. It was subtle at first and got worse as time went on. The fruit was still bold enough to offset most of it and still have a decent drink, but this was not up to the standard of other Charme’s. The finish helped bring this back up, as it was quite filling and long. But I am not sure how these will age when that bold fruit starts to subside. I have several bottles left to experiment with, so I guess time will tell. 88-89 points.
05/16/09