'05 Orin Swift Papillon

[drssouth]

With Beef Paprikash
2005 Orin Swift Papillon, alc 15.1%, $56 Decanted in a Rojaus for about an hour. The inaugural release of a Bordeaux blend with 63% Cabernet Sauvignon ,19% Merlot ,9% Cabernet Franc, 7% Malbec and 2% Petite Verdot. The nose is a bit muted with a gentle sweetness and black fruit. The palate is much more expressive.. big but not overly so, with a restrained sweetness with bittersweet dark chocolate and cocoa and plums. The structure is impressive but the tannins are fairly minor. No wood of any consequence showing.
Overall, a very impressive Bordeaux blend that is drinking extremely well right now. Even better with the food (as wine should always be IMNSHO)

Highly recommended

BTW, the bottle is a several pound weapon. The photo used for the label is quite intriguing

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www.orinswift.com

 

[slaton]

Dr. South, interesting note. I'm really not on the same page with this one. I tasted this at an offjeeb (mixed Therapy/Squ*res dinner) a couple of months back when Kane was in town and to be honest I was baffled, even somewhat horrified by it. It's just that it barely seemed to be wine.

I think the 'chocolate' label is thrown about too often with wine, when what most are describing is a certain mouthfeel that comes from polished tannins (or tannin powder), combined with a gentle sensation of bitterness. I've been guilty of this myself. But how many wines really taste anything like milk or dark chocolate? Well this does, for one. It's like sweet milk chocolate filled with raspberry and currant preserves. In fact this is not wine, it's a red liquid dessert. Not surprisingly this was rather polarizing, as folks were inclined to either love its explosiveness, or abhor its fakeness. I wasn't surprised to find myself in the latter column.

I think tofurkey had a similar take on this?

I freely admit that I may have been unfairly biased by the lovely 1999 Eric Texier Hermitage that was in my other glass, and the California winemaker sitting next to me stating that it was thin and underripe.

 

[drssouth]

Clearly I would not favor this over a Hermitage. This bottle, however, was much more restrained and enjoyable than one might expect (certainly not "explosive" at this showing). There were indeed chocolate notes but not the overbearing Australian type of taste. I was prepared for this to be much "bigger" and overblown.. this wasn't.

I freely admit that my cellar is an inch deep and a mile wide and many different styles of wine can appeal to me.
In general, we drink Cabernet Sauvignon less than once a quarter but can enjoy it in the "right" setting.