TN: 2000 Alban Seymour

Figured CMON…12yrs HAD to have tamed this puppy and man was I wrong. Immediately upon popping the cork, the whole room stunk of pureed dark berries. I likened it to the smell you get when making fresh smoothies. This wine is as dark as night. No seriously…it’s a black hole in a bottle. I let my 5yr old smell and he said…“Yum. Strawberries and Cherries”. So how did it taste? Well…unfortunately…almost undrinkable [shock.gif] I enjoy lift in my wine regardless of ripeness and wines like SQN and Saxum (and at times Alban) always seem to find a nice blend of acidity and ripeness so as not to have the wine come off like a sinking cinderblock. This wine was SUPER oaked with overly heavy (though not searing) alcohol. I mean the purity of fruit was there but it was just so heavy and clumsy and woody that it just attacked the mouth and wouldn’t let up. So how long should I wait for this to integrate? 40yrs? Maybe but for now, I have to call it as I see it. It had a lot of things going right for it but it’s flaws were just too apparent for me to be able to appreciate the finer points. 84-86pts.

Justin,
My experience has been that these wines don’t age well. I was on the Alban list for many years (had a double allocation, even) and quit for this reason. The Alban wines don’t seem to live up to what is promised in their youth. The reduction when young isn’t so alluring, either…

Got some 2002 through 2005 Albans and thought I would give them some time. I think I’d better drink up.

Thanks for the note.

Cheers,
Doug

I have some high expectations for some vintages of Reva and Lorraine and even a few Seymour’s but I’ve never found a Pandora that I liked and I’ve found numerous vintages of those mentioned prior of which I’m not overly optimistic. I just wish they’d introduce a bit more acidity and use a little less oak as the fruit is always top notch. I just don’t see why some winemakers with stellar fruit have to treat what should be a no brainer with such a heavy hand.