A very surprising wine and the last of my 4 bottles. I did not take notes during the evening, but wanted to share the experience with this board
( glad to find where many of the folks I used to enjoy on the Squires Board ended up ). When opened the wine was very gamey. I have never experienced such a sauvage character before from the Rochioli vineyard and I have drunk at least 30 to 40 bottles from Rochioli or Williams Selyem - Burt days. I poured some into a glass to see where it would go and went to prepare dinner. After 20 minutes the wine was denser and the signature RR cherry cola was beginning to show through. At that point I felt sure the wine was not past it, but simply asleep from so long in a bottle, so I poured half the bottle into 2 Burg glasses for maximum oxygen contact.
Dinner came about 50 minutes after opening and the wine was singing. Pure, intense dark cherry fruit, cola, spices and earth had joined the sauvage - gamey - earthy qualities and the harmony was wonderful. Soaring aromas and a very long finish. The acidity was a bright frame for the wine to expand within. I would say it was at its best between an hour and 2 hours after opening and we finished the bottle before the fade out began. Still, the last sip, 3 hours out, was struggling a bit, but still good enough that we would have been content had the entire bottle showed itself that way.
I wanted to share this because I get the impression that many people don’t give a wine the chance to open, especially older pinot noir and white wines. We have seldom been disappointed from giving a wine the chance to awaken. Poured a 2000 Dagueneau Pur Sang last week that seemed so good with only 15 minutes air that we almost drank it up before my wife commented on how it was beginning to deepen and expand. In that case an hour was the optimum time, but we did enjoy most of it before then.
Welcome to the board!
Great first post.
I recently had one of those “cellar finds” while doing an inventory, a '97 Merry Edwards, I wasn’t sure what to do as I was sure it was over the hill. Now I think I’ll open it and let it breathe. Thanks for the note and welcome.
CJ be sure to pour some in a glass to check it out, it will give you a heads up on the rest of the bottle. '97 is a pretty forward vintage, but I had a '97 Dehlinger Reserve a few months ago that was lovely. Good luck.
I have rarely decanted my 1990s Williams Selyem wines preferring to pour a glass out and then let the bottle breath and hour or so. Maybe I’ll try one in the decanter though.