Chateau des Charmes 2006 Chardonnay Musque

Click here to read the original review from June 20, 2008 Weekly Wine Note

(Re-Tasted March 2014) ... Buoyed by the finding of a Fielding Chardonnay Musque from the same year, I decided to open this bottle of Chateau des Charmes Musque to see how it had fared.  Alas, not too well.  I have to admit I really didn't expect much from it, it was a wine that literally had gotten misplaced in my cellar and I was surprised to find it.  But considering the Fielding had turned out so well I thought it a great opportunity to see how a wine from a different part of Niagara turned out.  Chardonnay Musque is an unoaked wine and not really known for it longevity, so the fact that it was even drinkable at all is testament to the wine maker.   The nose was very Musqu-esque with floral and perfumed apple notes, but the palate had a bitter mid and finish and an odd, almost sour, aftertaste ... not very appealing at all.  So the moral of this bottle is that if you think that a wine is not meant to age put it somewhere where you will remember to drink it sooner.

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Chateau des Charmes 2006 Gewurztraminer

Click here to read the original review from June 2008

(Re-Tasted February 2014) ... After a wacky experiment with a Fielding Musque that turned out to be a pleasant surprise, I approached this Chateau des Charmes '06 Gewurzt with a little more respect and hopefulness.  Gewurztraminer, although un-oaked, has the ability to surprise when aged ... but which side of the surprise line would this particular wine fall is the real question.  The nose had touches of toffee along with subtle lavender ... interesting perfumed notes and a fruity / floral combination that lured one into the glass.  The palate also had interesting nuances, like the coriander-pineapple mid-palate and the intense spice on the finish that seemed to play off the hint of sweetness leading to a drier than expected finish ... any sweetness the nose led you to believe was there dissipated in the end on the tongue.  This wine proved to be mainly dry and its only drawback was the short (there-and-its-gone) finish.  Another nice bottle of un-oaked white that makes one question their belief system about what can and can't mature when oak is not present.

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Chateau des Charmes 2007 Gamay Noir ‘Droit’

Click here to read the original review from June 2008

(Re-Tasted May 2013) ... With the release of the 2010 version of the Gamay Noir Droit coming out (my review will appear in the next couple of weeks at ontariowinereview.com) I thought it would be interesting to check out an older version, like the last time a hot vintage version of this wine came out.  Back in June 2008 I proclaimed the 2007 Droit a "kick ass wine" ... today it's more of an interesting discovery.  I chilled the bottle in the fridge for about 45 minutes, because Gamay deserve one.  It had plenty of anise and smoky character with dried cherry and strawberry character.  As the wine warmed the dried became drier, darker and drier to be exact, with a kind of delicious port-like quality to it.  Is it as 'kick ass' as it was in 2008?  Nope.  But it's still a delicious and fun wine to drink ... if you're like me and picked up a few bottles back when it was released, and still have some in the cellar, it's time to drink up ... before that fruit gets too dried out.

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Chateau des Charmes 2004 Paul Bosc Chardonnay

Click here to read the original review from June 2008

(Re-Tasted February 2013) ... We were over at a friend's house for dinner the night I opened this bottle - our friend's a big Chardonnay fan and I thought it would be interesting to open this, my last bottle of 2004 Chardonnay (from any winery).  It's a bottle of the Paul Bosc Vineyard Chardonnay - for those who don't know this is the vineyard directly across the road from the winery itself.  Looking at this wine bottle is like staring at the past, especially if you've bought any bottles from the Chateau in the last little while - the label is completely different ... those of you who have never seen the Chateau's old label will be amazed at it's simplicity and basic design.  But don't let the outside fool you, what's in this bottle is far from basic and simple.  Now, because I was away from home I could not put the wine into a proper glass (my glass-snob comes out again) so I had to try this wine is a few glasses so as to get the nose and taste properly.  The good news is the wine tasted wonderful in whatever I put it in - and it seemed to disappear quickly in everyone's glass.  The nose was very shy at first but did give notes of buttered toffee and baked apple ... on the palate it showed more complexity: butter, caramel, peach cobbler, cinnamon, spice all with a creamy texture until some acidity popped in right at the finish-line to keep it from being too blowsy in the mouth.  The oak also proved to be spot on as it carried the wine without being over-bearing.  A nice job with this Chardonnay ... I liked it back in 2008 and I'm liking it now, though I'm not sure how much longer I would have held it given the opportunity, nine years seems to be a good time.  If you've got some in your cellar might I suggest inviting some Chardonnay loving friends and popping the cork ... you will not be disappointed.

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Chateau des Charmes 2005 St. David’s Bench Cabernet Franc

Found August 2012

Not all of us are lucky enough to try decade old wines ... nor are we all lucky enough to have such a creature in our own cellars (if you have one at all).  I have been collecting wine now for over 15 years, and Ontario wine for just as long (if not longer), so I have some pretty interesting (and I'm sure expired) stuff down there.  Thankfully, this Chateau des Charmes decade old Cabernet Franc was far from the expired list, in fact it showed well from start to finish.  The nose kicked things off with dried cherry, dried blackberry and hints of vanilla-cedar.  The plate proved just as inviting with mocha, dried cherry and some cedary notes.  I was worried the cedar would start to take over but they seemed to be happy to linger in the background ... as the evening wore on things started to happen in the glass and especially on the palate:  a dry smoky finish began to dominate; and there was some dried tobacco leaf notes (like picking bits off your tongue while smoking an unfiltered cigarette) ... the final analysis on my last sip, some 2 hours after opening, was this: tobacco, dried blackberry and black currants with a nice, relatively smooth, finish.  This wine is showing exceptionally well for its age.  Lost & Found Rating:  Treasure

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Chateau des Charmes 2006 St. David’s Bench Viognier

Click here to read the original review from April 8, 2008 Weekly Wine Note

(Re-Tasted August 2012) ...  A few weeks ago I popped this wine into the fridge for some guests we had coming over ... sadly we never got around to popping the cork and so there is it sat in the fridge for a few weeks until last night, when I finally spied the bottle and decided that I would pull the cork to pair with some fish we were having for dinner.  I remember this wine being more tropical in its youth, but now it has developed more like a Chardonnay ... it's not surprising they call Viognier "the alternative to Chardonnay".  The nose is quite appealing with apricot and pear, but seems to have some smoky notes that also appear.  The palate still has good acidity and a lovely lingering long finish, but as I said (on the palate) I probably could not differentiate this from an oaked Chardonnay.  The taste is buttery and toasty with peach pit and apricot pit notes, it also develops a little poached pear as it sits in the glass.  Still very pleasant ... if I want Chardonnay without it saying Chardonnay on the bottle.

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Chateau des Charmes 2006 Estate Bottled Riesling

Click here to read the original review from July 2007 

(Re-Tasted July 2012) ... It truly is a summer for Riesling.  With the hot weather we've been having I'm not only digging out the new bottles, but also some of the old ones, to see how they are doing.  My original review says to lay this one down and watch it develop, and develop it has, into something lovely.  The fruit is still very much intact with apricot, apple and pear notes especially on the nose, but they are intact on the palate too; the acidity has stayed right where it needs to be to keep that lovely freshness and there's even a limeade, honey and lemonade note to the finish.  This is still one terrific wine that shows no signs of going anywhere, downhill that is, it seems to be holding its own quite well.  Wish I had a few more bottles so I could find out where it is going - cause I'd love to take the ride with it (and wouldn't you know it I do - we'll check back in a year or two).

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Chateau des Charmes 2005 St. David's Bench Cabernet Sauvignon

 

Click here to read the original review from August 28, 2007

(Re-Tasted December, 2011) ... We went out for dinner for my birthday this evening, a diner called Angels here in St. Catharines - no it's not fancy but perfect for what we wanted: casual and enjoyable, I had the rack of ribs deal which was quite good.  Anyway, when we arrived home we opened two bottles of wine, a white for Erica (my wife) and a red for me.  Forget the white, it was something cheap and cheesy and as it turned out was not my wife's favourites by a long shot, on the other hand, for me I opened a bottle of Chateau des Charmes 2005 St. David's Bench Cabernet Sauvignon with much excitement.  The nose started off with cassis, cedar and spice while the palate was very leathery and cedary.  I decided to let it sit a bit in the glass and see what happened.  A half hour later the wine was smelling of spices, cherry, clove and cinnamon, quite alluring; while the palate was blackberry, clove and lots of wood spice ... from there another half hour went by and the wine started showing lots of wood character and the fruit started to disappear completely - as I wrote in my notes, "showing lots of wood and a dearth of fruit".  Funny thing, the lone fruit fly who seemed to be roaming our house the past few days drowned in the glass - that is good news.  Also interesting to note, at this hour-plus mark when the wine was poured straight from the bottle the wine had plenty of fruit, it was just as it hit the air for longer than 10 minutes that the wood started to dominate.  Moral of the story: drink fast for fruit, drink slow for wood.

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Chateau des Charmes 1999 Estate Cabernet Merlot

Click here to read the original review April 2005

Taste it Again: July 12, 2009

Taste it Again: January 17, 2008

(Re-Tasted October 2011) ... It is with a little sadness that I write this review.  This is the fourth time that I have put pen to paper over this wine (so to speak) and it is my last bottle in the cellar.  It is currently 12 years from vintage date and by wine standards, when you put that on the table, people say, "my that's old", because very few people can hold onto their wines that long.  And that really is a shame, because if you had you would have found out exactly what I did on this Saturday evening in October 2011 ... it was amazing.  I have been eyeing up this bottle for a little while wondering if maybe I had waited a little too long to pop the cork, but tonight, after trying the Hillebrand 2007 Trius with friends, I thought I`d best try something even older to see how it is progressing - so I ventured downstairs for my last bottle.  The aromas were of dried plum, raspberry, cassis liqueur, cherry whiskey, some slightly leafy notes and chocolate cherries ... very complex and worth sticking your nose into more than a few times just to get all those aromas out of there.  The taste proved to be just as inviting and complex - on the tongue it was sweet, supple and smooth.  Sweet dried plums and vanilla notes - this wine still had marvelous fruit keeping everything alive - a touch on the dry side rather then the fresh side - but what do you expect from 12 years in bottle?  I wish I had 3 more bottles to carry on the experiment with in another 2 years and beyond.  But alas, I say goodbye to my last bottle of this superb wine.  If you have some, drink now for some real enjoyment, or you have the option to wait a few more years just to see where it goes - so far it has been one heck of a journey.

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Chateau des Charmes 2005 Rosé Brut

Click here to read the original review from September 2008 or OWR Newsletter #92

(Re-Tasted September 2011) ... This is my go-to wine for special occasions ... I got engaged to this bottle and now I am celebrating my 1st Anniversary with this bottle, and I am positive I celebrated a few more things but failed to write them down.  Started off our anniversary afternoon with a delicious lunch of homemade fish tacos and a plan of a few movies on the big screen (in the den); what could be more romantic than opening up a bottle of bubbly while still in your jammies.  This wine is getting better and it would also seem to be getting a tad sweeter as it ages, but not unpleasantly.  The nose is baked strawberries, with some raspberries notes and a hint of bread crust in the background.  The palate is big on sweet strawberries, while raspberries join the mouth-party to tone back the sweetness with a little of their signature tartness and then comes that fresh bread crust on the nice long finish ... this was the perfect wine to celebrate another momentous occasion with; and the good news I still have more bottles with which to celebrate with.

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Chateau des Charmes 2005 St. David's Cabernet Franc

Click here to read the original review from August 28, 2007 Weekly Wine Note

(Re-Tasted July 2011) ... This was a pleasant surprise of a wine to pull out of one of my Taste it Again boxes: one, because I love Cabernet Franc and two, because the folks at Chateau des Charmes seem to do it quite well - and they are particularly ageable, especially when it is the single vineyard series.  So, needless to say I was thrilled to pop the top on this one.  2005:  good vintage, nice heat, ripe grapes, so this one should do just fine in the glass some 6 years later.  At first I have to admit I was a little skeptical, woody and cigar notes lead the aromas to the nose, but then as it opened there was some raspberry notes that also started to come up.  With a little more time the wood started to subside and the fruit and cigar ash rose ... very pleasant.  On the palate the same thing occurred, but it unfolded a little quicker, instead of half an hour to start to mellow (which was the time for the nose to start) it took half that time for the palate to start coming around.  Spice, tobacco, cedar, and a cocoa powder dryness on the finish - there was also that woodiness, but as I mentioned it started to dissipate within a quarter of an hour and replaced itself with a the oomph and bite of a spiced characteristic.  This wine needs some time in a decanter, and make sure you have a big glass to pour it into or this bruiser will get the better of you.  Advice: Drink or hold a few more years.

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Chateau des Charmes 2002 Cabernet Sauvignon - Paul Bosc Vineyard

Click here to read the original review dated October 2007

(Re-Tasted January 2011) ... Theoretically 9 years from vintage date, but can you really count another year 4 days into the new year?  For argument sake let's call it 8 years.  And still going strong.  I have to admit I was rightfully impressed with this bottle of wine.  It was one of the first times that the term "terroir" really meant something to me.  In 2002 Chateau des Charmes created two Cabernet Sauvignons, one from the St. David's Bench vineyard and another from the Paul Bosc vineyard - the only thing separating these two vineyard is York Road.  If you have ever visited the winery St. David's vineyard is the one where the winery sits, Paul Bosc is across the road.  To taste these two wines you would not believe that was the only difference, they were completely different wines.  Now, some 8 years on, I find myself with a bottle of the Paul Bosc version.  This wine was the powerhouse of the two and it still has plenty of life left in the bottle.  The nose is dark berried with a nice spiciness to it ... over the course of the evening an alcohol smell started to eminate from the glass (say 2 hour after opening and decanting).  A very closed wine at first I did decide to decant to get the most out of this one.  The sediment was grity and fine but did not detract from the taste of the wine.  Taste-wise there was nice cassis, dark berries and a little bit of wood tannins.  Given time there was also dried blueberries and a touch of cocoa on the finish.  This one still needs time, yes it's mature, but not mature enough, those tannins could still use a little softening.  I predicted 10-15 years, and so far I am right on track.

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Chateau des Charmes 2001 Estate Bottled Pinot Noir - Add Two More Years

Click here to read the original review from December 2005 - OWR Newsletter #19 - Pinot Tasting

 

First Re-Tasting: April 28, 2008

(Re-Tasted - again - October 2010) ... On the back of this bottle I had written, "Hold Two Years: 12/05"; so either I was telling myself to drink it in December of 2005 or I lay it down in December of '05 and was saying I should drink by December 2007 - either way I missed the deadline ... both time.  I opened this bottle for Thanksgiving (the Canadian version), we weren't having a traditional turkey dinner, instead I had whipped up a casserole using ground turkey, lentils and brown rice (actually tasted much better than it sounds) ... but I figured a Pinot Noir would make it feel more traditional than it was.  I also had a bit of a scare when I cut two fingers chopping onions (the folks on the Food Network make it look so easy) ... so I really needed a drink once everything was in the oven.  My previous foray with this wine, in April 2008, was not a good one - but I did not know that when I opened this bottle.  I pulled out a Schott Zwiesel Pinot Noir glass and poured the wine in.  The cork broke during the opening and it was a little on the moist side about 3/4 of the way up, but otherwise everything looked in good condition.  The wine itself showed little sign of bricking, or browning, and the smells coming off it were pleasant enough, if slightly non-existent.  The best way to describe the nose is what it settled into 20 minutes after opening, wooden-raspberries, up until then the wine was a little shy, giving away little at far as aromas go.  Taste-wise it remained fairly closed through the entire hour and a half it was in the glass, lots of tannins and wood spice, fruit barely perceptible, if at all there.  But it was not unpleasant to drink, in fact it seemed a nice pairing with the turkey-lentil casserole, and who knows maybe the wine needs even more time to come around - it has definitely improved since April 2008 when I could barely stomach it.

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Chateau des Charmes 2002 Estate Cabernet Merlot

Click here to read the original review from February 2007 - OWR Newsletter #49

(Re-Tasted May 2010) ... Those of you who have read my blogs and newsletters from the beginning know that I was quite taken with the 1999 Cabernet Merlot from the Chateau - it was one of my first real "Holy Sh*t" moments with aged Ontario wine ... the kicker here is, I tried the wine when it was already 5 years old.  I was able to put my hands on half a dozen bottles and have drunk them sparingly over the years relishing in the subtlety and nuances of an ageing wine (I have one bottle left).

When the 2002 came out, a fabulous Ontario vintage, I snatched up quite a few Estate Cabernet Merlots.  Tonight I once again was looking forward to re-experience an aged Charmes wine ... but ever 8 years on you'd be hard pressed to distinguish this from a younger version.  This is one big brawny bottle of booze.  Upon opening there's plenty of tannins along with dark chocolate that is very appealing; but there's also mucho fruit behind all that muscle along with cinnamon, spice and vanilla oak.

45 minutes later the wine has finally toned down so that other smells and tastes are distinguishable - it's smoky with licorice, lots of spice and still with the big tannins - at the point there's more barrel tones then fruit - the sweet spot for this wine is about the 25 minute mark after opening when things seem to meld together just right.

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Chateau des Charmes 2002 Estate Cabernet Merlot

Click here to read the original review from February 2007 - OWR Newsletter #49

(Re-Tasted August 2009) ... Another day, another re-taste, another surprise. Today's re-taste is a Chateau des Charmes Cabernet Merlot blend from the great vintage of 2002. I remember this vintage as one of the first great ones of the millennium. Now sure it pales in comparison to what we had in 2005 and 2007 but '02 was still a very collectable vintage, when it comes to red wines in Ontario - I have a rack ust full of these babies waiting for inclusion in the Taste it Again or Lost & Found columns. Tonight we're trying again one of my favourite wines from the '02 vintage (because I was just such a fan of the 1999 version of this wine). The nose has blackberry and cinnamon - but this takes some time to open up, that's why I used the glass-to-glass method (pouring wine from one big glass to another a number of times to coax the wine to open up - this is great when you don't have time to decant because you can accomplish it in a mere fraction the time). The taste is blackberry with some vanilla oak notes and some tannin bite. When the cork is first popped this wine has a bit of a bitter finish, but when opened it smoothes right out and is quite sippable. The colour of the wine is is still very youthful, but keep in mind this wine needs lots of aeration to get it to the point of easy enjoyment. Decant or try the glass-to-glass method. I have a few more bottles, and we'll be looking at this wine again in the coming years.

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Chateau des Charmes 1999 Estate Cabernet-Merlot

Click here to read the original review from April 2005 - OWR Newsletter #02
Previously Tasted Again: January 17, 2008

(Re-Tasted July 2009) ... It was once said to me that "wine tastes better in the presence of the winemaker" - I am sure that anybody who has experienced tasting with a winemaker can attest to that. Tonight I got a rare opportunity to taste a bottle of Chateau des Charmes 1999 Cabernet-Merlot Estate Bottle with the Bosc family - but this story has a little bit of a twist, it was a bottle that I had been storing for the last 4 or 5 years, and it had traveled 2000km to get to the table.

On July 2nd I found myself enroute to the Annual Pine Island tasting held on an island just south of North Bay ... knowing that I would not be returning to my abode until the 13 of July, I knew I had to take the bottle with me. So I packed it carfeully in bubble wrap and into a cooler bag, packed with bubble wrap around it to keep it safe - this is where the bottle resided for the next 10 days. I then stored the wine in our cabin on the island, thankfully the weather never hit a temperature above 20 (celsius). My next stop was in the US of A (Detroit), where I visited with my fiancee for a few days and kept the bottle in its bag in her cool basement. Then to Niagara I went - where the bottle had to rest in a trunk all day as the temperature outside rose. At this point I bought a couple bottles of cold water and stowed them in the bag with the bottle, as a gauge as to how well the bottle was being insulated. Thankfully when I returned to my B&B that evening the water was still cool. Finally, the bottle made its way, 10 days later, to the Bosc table where we pulled the cork and I held my breath. Had I ruined this carefully stored bottle that I had launched my website with (as the first red reviewed) back in April 2005? Had I taken enough care of this bottle through all this moving about? It was show time ...

Paul Bosc Jr. popped the cork and gave it a sniff - he then poured a little off and sampled it, so did I. I little smoky and dark fruitish. We let the wine breathe in the bottle for an hour. Now back in 1999, Junior was not the winemaker, Paul Bosc Sr. was, and he showed up to try the bottle (this is where the part about "in the presence of the winemaker" comes in). The wine proved to have a life all it's own - still with vibrant fruit, it actually tasted young, this 10 year old bottle that had been hauled from town to town tasted young. The nose was black fruited, on the dry side, with licorice and raspberry notes. The flavour was black fruit, vanilla with a hint of pine, sour raspberry and cassis. The tannins still had a grip yet smoothed through the mouth - and kept those flavours with barely a change over the next three hours. Outstanding wine, "a vintage on par with 2002," said Paul Jr. I have some bottles of the 2002 Estate Cabernet Merlot - I guess we'll see if that statement really is true in 2012.

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Chateau des Charmes 2005 Estate Bottled Riesling

Click here to read the original review from July 2007

(Re-Tasted June 2009) ... In 1967 The Lovin' Spoonfuls sang a song called "Boredom" ("my whole life is boredom"), these are the same guys that sang "Did you ever have to make up your mind" and "What a day for a daydream". Unfortunately, there was no day dreaming about this wine and we made up our minds pretty quickly ... in 2009 this wine was boring ("my this Riesling is boring"). I am sitting here on a sunny day in Michigan, staring out at a blue sky and the temperature heading north of 80 (that's about 25 on the celsius scale) and I am staring into a glass of Riesling that has either entered a very boring stage or its lifecycle or is on its way down. I would like to just believe it's in a "dumb phase", a place in a wine's life where nothing exciting is happening, but if you were to open it in another year, or had opened it the year before, it would sparkle. There was petrol on the nose and a touch of over ripe, bruised apple; the palate pretty much confirmed that, but the acidity and sweetness seems to have failed the wine and it just sat on the tongue without bringing enjoyment or pleasure. Not sure if I have any of this one left, but if I do it would be nice to look at it again in another year or so, to see if it really was just dumb or boring at 4 years old, either way, at this point anyway, it was a disappointment.

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Chateau des Charmes 2002 St. David's Bench and Paul Bosc Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon

To read the original review from July 2006 click on the vineyard below:
St. David's Bench - Paul Bosc Vineyard

(Re-Tasted June 2009) ... This is the story of two wines that might surprise you, even 7 years from their vintage date. First, let's take a minute to talk about the terroir of these two wines - or better yet, the proximity to one another. It may not seem like much separates these two vineyards, but that little stretch of road means so much. You see (for those who have been to Chateau des Charmes) the St. David's vineyard is what the Chateau sits in the middle of; while the Paul Bosc vineyard is located just across the parking lot; separated by a piece of asphalt called "York Road", but amazingly that makes all the difference.

I opened these wines on two consecutive nights so that I could compare them. Starting with the St. David's Bench wine. This one had a lovely nose of toasted cinnamon, dried blackberries and black fruits along with a vanilla-cedar note. The taste was full of peppered-blackberries some tannin bite along with cinnamon and vanilla. As time wore on with this wine other flavours emerged, including hints of bittersweet chocolate, a cedar-black licorice finish and a pleasant cafe mocha aftertaste.

The Paul Bosc bottle was quite different. For starters, the first bottle I opened was badly corked, thankfully I was able to locate another in my cellar, but still you never like to see a wine you've been ageing go bad (or be bad from the start, as this case may be). Once the second bottle was opened the true smells and flavours of this wine came out. A nose loaded with black fruit, spice and some vegetal notes, though that blew off within the first 15 minutes. Taste-wise there were lots of spices and pepper along with some pleasant black fruit flavours. This wine showed little signs of its age, with no hints of the dried fruit that was in the St. David's bottle; and there was still quite a bit of youthful tannins, big fruit and spice.

It's amazing to compare these two wines ... sure it's just a road, but it's the road that makes all the difference; that and the two different soils the grapes are grown in. Both wines still have plenty of time left in them, though I would say the David's has less - say 3 or 4 years, while the Bosc shows no signs of slowing down in it's evolution, another 5+ years here.

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Chateau des Charmes 2001 Estate Bottled Pinot Noir

Click here to read the original review from December 2005
Newsletter #19's Pinot Tasting

(Re-Tasted April 2008) … I so rarely, if ever, have bad experiences with aged Chateau des Charmes wine, even my 99 Cab-Merlot is still drinking well. So I must say I was really looking forward to this Pinot when I pulled it out of my two-year-hold-box … I remember thinking how good this one is going to taste with a little age. My excitement was short-lived … no matter how hard I tried, this one just wouldn’t come around. Starting with the cork that was soaked all the way up one side and halfway up the other. The nose was rotten egg (text-book reductive) and no matter what I tried: aeration, time, chilling, it just wouldn’t go away. Thankfully the palate wasn’t all bad, there was still some good tannins with sour cherry and a touch of vanilla – but at the beginning and the end those eggs came screaming through – it was like great sandwich fixings served on moldy bread.

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Chateau des Charmes 1999 Estate Cabernet-Merlot

Click here to read the original review from April 2005

(Re-Tasted August 2007) … The nose has pepper, blueberry, plum and opens with a little forest floor when the bottle was first opened, but this fades after about 30 minutes. There’s still some oak in there along with vanilla, pepper, cedar, blackberry, currants and some tannin kick. Is there much life left in this bottle - time will tell, another two years might be pushing it - but I’m willing to give it a shot. Down she goes again, thank goodness I bought a few extra bottles.

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