Opened at a restaurant. Cork in really great condition. A bit surprised how good it looked - like a new bottle.
Medium garnet. A bit reserved at first, but really opened up after about hour and kept improving with time. Great meaty and herbal/garrigue notes with raspberry and red fruits on the nose. Rather full-bodied with raspberry ganache, fig paste, tar, leather, spice flavors. A bit drying on the finish, but this resolved over the course of the bottle. Great with the lamb. For some reason I thought this was going to be a little more mellow, but it was somewhat “youthful” in a way. Still plenty of tertiary aromas and flavors but it didn’t seem at all tired and carried the freshness and acidity of the vintage. Was very enjoyable and I’ve always felt this has been a very underrated wine in an underrated vintage.
As an aside, I have tasted several ‘04s in the past 6 months (Clos des Papes, Vieux Donjon and Vieux Telegraphe) and they are all excellent and in great spots. This vintage has always been a favorite of mine along with ‘06. The wines are just really easy to like and have a nice freshness and purity to them. Would certainly recommend opening some up and checking in.