![]() |
1997 Bonny Doon
I was culling through some wines in my cellar and came upon a couple
of bottles of 1997 Bonny Doon Le Cigare Volant which is Randall Grahm's hommage to CNP. The wine was bought on release and stored at 55F. It's a blend of Grenache, Syrah, Cinsault and Mourvedre although any resemblence to CNP is purely accidental. I recall drinking the wine on release and enjoying the California fruit flavors that reminded my more of Village Beaujolais than CNP. The synthetic cork was a fairly thin plasctic affair that slid out of the bottle with ease. The cork was saturated about 50% of it's very short length with deep pruple residue. After the initial bottle funk blew off the wine still had a pronounced,stemmy, funky green smell that reminded my of rotting grass clippings. In the glass the wine was a cloudy medium- light red with a brickish cast. Flavors were of bitter grape skins (there was a serious amount of residueclinging to all sides of the bottle) and old apples. Clearly past it's prime the wine was still fiercly tannic which is not something that I remembered from it's youth. Not sure if this was a cork failure (I opened the remaining three bottles to the same result) or if it was just not made to last. I did taste a few hours later and again this morning and the wine still had a bitter tanninc funk to it. NR |
1997 Bonny Doon
On Oct 28, 9:50*am, "Bi!!" > wrote:
> I was culling through some wines in my cellar and came upon a couple > of bottles of 1997 Bonny Doon Le Cigare Volant which is Randall > Grahm's hommage to CNP. *The wine was bought on release and stored at > 55F. *It's a blend of Grenache, Syrah, Cinsault and Mourvedre although > any resemblence to CNP is purely accidental. *I recall drinking the > wine on release and enjoying the California fruit flavors that > reminded my more of Village Beaujolais than CNP. The synthetic cork > was a fairly thin plasctic affair that slid out of the bottle with > ease. *The cork was saturated about 50% of it's very short length with > deep pruple residue. *After the initial bottle funk blew off the wine > still had a pronounced,stemmy, funky green smell that reminded my of > rotting grass clippings. *In the glass the wine was a cloudy medium- > light red with a brickish cast. *Flavors were of bitter grape skins > (there was a serious amount of residueclinging to all sides of the > bottle) and old apples. *Clearly past it's prime the wine was still > fiercly tannic which is not something that I remembered from it's > youth. *Not sure if this was a cork failure (I opened the remaining > three bottles to the same result) or if it was just not made to last. > I did taste a few hours later and again this morning and the wine > still had a bitter tanninc funk to it. *NR surprised by the tannins, but those early synthetic corks had about a 90% mortality rate after 4 o 5 years, much less decade+ Supposedly some are supposed to be better now, but I generally regard syn-corks as sign to drink with 2-3 years |
1997 Bonny Doon
DaleW wrote:
> surprised by the tannins, but those early synthetic corks had about a > 90% mortality rate after 4 o 5 years, much less decade+ > Supposedly some are supposed to be better now, but I generally regard > syn-corks as sign to drink with 2-3 years My thoughts perzackly, Dale. My experience with aging wines sealed with fake corks is "dead on arrival." In fact, one of my very early posts to AFW was about a '96 Siduri PN that was absolutely dead when opened in '99 or '00. I was too new to the phenomenon then to recognize it for what it was, but I have studiously avoided aging any wines sealed under fake cork for the last 5 years at least. Reduction be damned: bring on the screwcaps! Mark Lipton |
1997 Bonny Doon
Mark wrote on Thu, 28 Oct 2010 23:56:29 -0400:
>> surprised by the tannins, but those early synthetic corks had >> about a 90% mortality rate after 4 o 5 years, much less >> decade+ Supposedly some are supposed to be better now, but I >> generally regard syn-corks as sign to drink with 2-3 years > My thoughts perzackly, Dale. My experience with aging wines > sealed with fake corks is "dead on arrival." In fact, one of my very > early posts to AFW was about a '96 Siduri PN that was > absolutely dead when opened in '99 or '00. I was too new to > the phenomenon then to recognize it for what it was, but I > have studiously avoided aging any wines sealed under fake cork > for the last 5 years at least. Reduction be damned: bring on the > screwcaps! For my education, are "synthetic" corks those ribbed plastic stoppers (polyethylene, I think) or those apparently composed of ground up cork bound by some sort of plastic? I don't think I've seen either lately in the younger wines that I drink day to day, tho' neither worked very well, IMO. -- James Silverton Potomac, Maryland Email, with obvious alterations: not.jim.silverton.at.verizon.not |
1997 Bonny Doon
On Oct 29, 10:11*am, "James Silverton" >
wrote: > *Mark *wrote *on Thu, 28 Oct 2010 23:56:29 -0400: > > >> surprised by the tannins, but those early synthetic corks had > >> about a 90% mortality rate after 4 o 5 years, much less > >> decade+ Supposedly some are supposed to be better now, but I > >> generally regard syn-corks as sign to drink with 2-3 years > > My thoughts perzackly, Dale. *My experience with aging wines > > sealed with fake corks is "dead on arrival." *In fact, one of my very > > early posts to *AFW was about a '96 Siduri PN that was > > absolutely dead when opened in '99 or '00. *I was too new to > > the phenomenon then to recognize it for what it was, but I > > have studiously avoided aging any wines sealed under fake cork > > for the last 5 years at least. *Reduction be damned: bring on the > > screwcaps! > > For my education, are "synthetic" corks those ribbed plastic stoppers > (polyethylene, I think) or those apparently composed of ground up cork > bound by some sort of plastic? I don't think I've seen either lately in > the younger wines that I drink day to day, tho' neither worked very > well, IMO. > > -- > > James Silverton > Potomac, Maryland > > Email, with obvious alterations: not.jim.silverton.at.verizon.not This "cork" was a somewhat soft plastic "plug" the size and shape of a cork but the material was slightly pliable and it slid out of the bottle with little resistance. It was actually slightly porous and had absorbed quite a bit of color. |
All times are GMT +1. The time now is 09:14 PM. |
Powered by vBulletin® Copyright ©2000 - 2025, Jelsoft Enterprises Ltd.
FoodBanter