-
2009 Domaine Yves Cuilleron St. Joseph L’Amarybelle - France, Rhône, Northern Rhône, St. Joseph (8/18/2011)
– popped and poured –
– tasted non-blind over 4 hours –
NOSE: quite expressive, this showed different elements over the four hours I tasted it; more savory and spicy than fruity, with a peat smoke/stemmy/peppery/spicy/oaky mélange dominating; hints of spiced deli meat (pepperoni and pastrami) made appearances, as well, with dark fruits quietly lurking the background.
BODY: dark magenta-ink purple color of medium-deep to deep depth; medium-full bodied.
TASTE: ripe, with decent-to-good acidity; fine-grained tannins; spicy; oaky; blackberry and loganberry fruits; background hint of game; yeast/bread/garrigue mixture on the finish, which was long and of medium-strong intensity; a bit ripe/plush for a St. Joseph; palate was full, albeit a bit weak on the rear. Overall, a nice wine, but somewhat lacking in regional typicity.
B: 50, 5, 13, 16, 7 = (91 pts.)
Posted from CellarTracker
Even the 2008 vintage of the same seemed to be lacking classic St. Joseph character when I tasted it last year, so perhaps that’s par for the course with this bottling?