VLM got me to drink one of my precious 95 Verset's too early!

B

BJ

BJ
All this talk of drinking wines at their early secondaries while still vibrant and fresh - I was lulled! I bring an 88 Verset to dinner and though he enjoys it he writes it off as too old!

The 95 is a great wine. Nose had all sorts of things going on - blood orange, dried meat, pomegranate, along with other typical Cornas elements. These all carried into the wine, but on the back end there was a nasty drying edge that just tipped the wine as needing more time. Just about any 95 I have from anywhere in France still seems to need a bit more time.

And as an important data point in the ongoing debate over Clape vs. the world - this was one of those Versets that really stood out. A lot of the extra something that makes the whole wine deal exciting and fun. A real thoroughbred of unpredictability - a chaotic nervy racy edge that was hard to pin down. There is something about Clapes that is a bit correct, that can leave me a little cold. Sort of Hermitage vs. Cote Rotie.

Anyway, I wanted to share this important news with all of you.
 
drying edges make me think too much time passed rather than not enough. . . .

i recently had a 99 verset in the company of 99 clape, 99 guigal chateau ampuis, 99 st cosme cote rotie, 99 rostaing cote blonde, and 99 jasmin. verset smoked 'em all. head and shoulders.
 
Bottle variation/storage and all that.

Our bottle from a month ago did not have any drying sensation, rather it had a slightly fierce acidic streak that shortly integrated into a Perfect Wine Experience. Drink Now!!
 
originally posted by robert ames:
drying edges make me think too much time passed rather than not enough. . . .

i recently had a 99 verset in the company of 99 clape, 99 guigal chateau ampuis, 99 st cosme cote rotie, 99 rostaing cote blonde, and 99 jasmin. verset smoked 'em all. head and shoulders.
Click to expand...

I have tended to, as well, but have had enough wines with multiple bottles where dried out ones clear themselves up given enough time and perseverance. This wine struck me as very 95, sort of bound up in the back end. I suspect that if we'd given it more time it would have worked itself out.
 
originally posted by robert ames:
drying edges make me think too much time passed rather than not enough. . . .

i recently had a 99 verset in the company of 99 clape, 99 guigal chateau ampuis, 99 st cosme cote rotie, 99 rostaing cote blonde, and 99 jasmin. verset smoked 'em all. head and shoulders.
Click to expand...
If you wouldn't have included the Jasmin, I might have gone along with you.
Best, Jim
 
originally posted by Thor:
VLM likes his wines on the young side.
Click to expand...

Wines or women?
I've got three 1995 Cave de Tain L'Hermitage Cornas les Nobles Rives and even though it's a coop the CellarTracker! notes indicate it's just starting to open up. I haven't tried one yet. Though I'm looking for an excuse.
 
originally posted by Jay Miller:
originally posted by Thor:
VLM likes his wines on the young side. Comparatively.
Click to expand...

For someone with such a brilliant palate it's an enduring mystery to me. '96 Picasses. Nuff said.
Click to expand...

I think you will all be disappointed in this wine over the long term. I just don't think there is much future to it. I'm glad all my bottles are gone. The ones I drank younger were more interesting than the older ones. It isn't as if they were closed, they just faded.

As for the Verset, it may improve but my last two bottles are so good now, why wait? Blackwood had a fantastic bottle with me in the not too distant past, it's about time for him to chime in.

What is so striking about it now is the aromatic profile. If you sit on it for another 5-7 years, you may miss that. I have a few bottles left and will science experiment one for the longer term, but in my experience of watching wine evolve over the course of it's life I think this one has hit a sweet spot. Brad may have cooler, more consistent storage than I have, there is always that. My bottles have had to move several times.
 
originally posted by VLM: What is so striking about it now is the aromatic profile. If you sit on it for another 5-7 years, you may miss that.
Click to expand...

I'm not VLM, Blackwood, or Brad, but that's the point I agree with. So much distinctiveness right now that seems to decline with age. Not that I'm an expert or anything.
 
originally posted by VLM:

What is so striking about it now is the aromatic profile. If you sit on it for another 5-7 years, you may miss that. I have a few bottles left and will science experiment one for the longer term, but in my experience of watching wine evolve over the course of it's life I think this one has hit a sweet spot. Brad may have cooler, more consistent storage than I have, there is always that. My bottles have had to move several times.
Click to expand...

Ah, you've posted.

I actually agree with you a lot on that. The nose was just phenomenal and it will not get better. So maybe it's just a matter of choosing what part is showing best.

The nose was as good as anything I've had from the Rhone valley.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top