The 2005 Olga Raffault Les Picasses is coming along very nicely. It was tough as nails when first poured, with hard, hard tannins, as you might expect from an 05. This despite 30 minutes in the decanter. But after that it opened very nicely to yield a classic, earthy cab franc nose; no green pepper notes at all. In the mouth, it softened and a fair deal of earth and fruit emerged. At that stage, it was more approachable than I expected. It was a great match for a hearty beef stew with mushrooms – particularly with bread soaked in the juices. Yum! 90-ish for me, and I suspect will get better and better over the next 10 years.
had one the other night, too, with similar results. definitely benefited from decanting.
I’m still relatively new to Loire Cabernet Franc-based wines, but getting the impression that the best bottles age at about the same pace as red Hermitage.
Thanks for the note.