1994 was a difficult year for most of the Northern Rhone vineyards. Extremely high summer temperature followed by sustained September rain causing rotting of the grapes.
Domaine de Vallout was an estate built up by the former racing driver Louis de Vallouit. This estate has since be purchased by the giant firm Guigal.
Found this wine at the 'end bin' section of a local wine shop for $5.99. What? $5.99 for a 1994 Saint Joseph? Bottle was in decent shape. Foils turned easily. The liquid was not cloudy. Took a chance a purchased a bottle.
There wine showed browning at the rim but the core still maintained an overall ruby/garnet body. Upon opening, cork is intact. Shows no sign of past seepage.
Tasting Notes:
Nose: Faint Sherry scent. Telltale sign of past oxidization (probably from heat damage). Decanted for 1 hr, fruit emerged with mostly red fruit and herb with some bacon fat.
Palate: Dominated by sour cherry (probably because of heat damage). Underneath the cherry, there was some floral notes mixed with sweet dark fruit and some leather lurking around. Surprise to see some gripping tannins left after all 13 years.
Body : Light to medium.
Finish : Short to medium.
Comment : This is not a complex wine to start with. Had this wine been stored properly, it would be an interesting experiment to see how it would have held up after all these years. Drank it with homemade chicken noodle soup and surprising paired fairly well. This wine fell apart after 2 hours in the glass. But for $5.99, what the heck!
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1 comment:
Good for people to know.
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