2001 Sociando-Mallet Dark purple. Nose of pencil lead, cassis, dark fruit. Palate of dark fruit but somewhat herbal and acidic. Didn’t seem very evolved. Not very enjoyable for me right now. Hope it shows better down the road.
2001 Vieux Telegraphe Dark reddish brown. Black fruit, licorice, meat and leather nose. Dark cherry and blackberry palate. Well resolved tannins and nice balance. This is in a good stage of development right now. Should have a long future. Enjoyable.
2007 Raspail-Ay Gigondas Dark garnet. Red and black fruit, flowers and earth on the nose. Black cherries and raspberries. Nice balance and finish. This is just a really good wine and a great qpr. I don’t have enough experience to know if this will improve with time or how long it may last, but it is so nice right now.
I have one or two of these left, so I appreciate your note. I’m glad you had a good experience with this, but it sounds like it might be best to hold mine for a while longer.
Numbers of people do not think any 07s augur well for long-term keeping. With that proviso in mind, Raspail-Ay, historically, does age well. The 98s and 01s are drinking beautifully now. And though I’m down to my last bottle or so of 95, that wine still has pleasures to it. If you like the young fruity quality, you will miss that. But I certainly intend to hold my 07s for a couple of years to see what happens and make judgments about the future.
'01 Bordeaux are generally (and Sociando specifically and almost always) not for fans of lush fruit. I love the wines specifically for the fact that they show some acid and not just dark black fruit in the flavor profile.
They are generally best at about 6-8 years. I liked this version early, but a bottle around Christmas showed too much alcohol. I think it’s just a phase but wonder how long it will last after it sorts itself out.