Once more into France the mighty HSC plunges (and perhaps a
few more to come) and this time, we undertake a wine that truly tests The List,
both in boundary and in patience somewhat. More on this in a moment, but this,
unlike some of the other wines, is not as easily accessible. It is not, in
short, a wine for the weak, but rather that proverbial gold nugget in the
stream or diamond in the pile of rocks.
As I’ve made mention of numerous times, the HSC methodology
involves both a degree of chilling as well as significant airtime. While this
wine is a very solid representative of the Bordeaux style of wines, it takes
significant air time as well as a much warmer temperatures than several other
names on the list, to really open up and shine. Once it does, it becomes a very
welcome companion, but the slight chilling and less than hour air time will
leave this very bracing and astringent.
On the plus side, you could easily rack this into storage
and visit in the future. On the down side, unless you use a decanter, be
prepared to wait. The wait is worth it, as this is a very complex offering, at
once earthy and comforting in the mouth, delivering notes of slight bitter and
leather and some of the darker fruits, perhaps along the lines of dark cherry
gracing blueberry and blackberry. It is not overly fruity, in fact, far from it.
Most of those notes are more suggestive than there outright and it becomes a
lot more refined as it goes on. This is one of the reasons the HSC is so happy
with the method noted, as you can really get a grasp on changes and a firmer
handle on the wine.
Most of the time, my wife and I are not super interested in
a “good things come for those who wait” wine, so this one won’t be a Standard.
I don’t recall seeing it on SPA, but this is more of an occasional wine, even
if it was on SPA, so that doesn’t factor in. All that’s left is Mixed, which is
where this falls.
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