With Hart, YZ, Sloke and Liz at the newly renovated Nicolas

GAH. DAMMIT. I finally get it now.

I’ve been confused by some people’s obsession with 100% cab franc for a while now. I just find even some top labels to be so, eh. It’s alright. So I bugged @nicolasplaurent for some insights, and started scheming to secure a bottle of Clos Rougeard for dinner. If there was a winemaker that can change my mind, it must be them.

Dinner rolls around, and I went on this little pitch/song&tell about why the group should consent to my selection of the Clos Rougeard. I’m not going to take credit for the eventual outcome, because my friends generally have poor self-control.

Bottle was uncorked right at the start. Left to slow ox for almost 2hrs before we started chipping away at it.

In the glass: rich bright ruby. Mid- body

On the nose: god. Dammit. Let me tell you: fresh off the bottle, this was an EXPLOSIVE bouquet of a reddish blackcurrant swirled with a lifted incense-ish herbaceous tone. Sweet oak, and an almost malo tone. It’s dark, but lotsa red fruits, but this unmistakeable herbaceousess that was intoxicating. God damn. I would say: I liked this much better fresh off the bottle, than after it’s sat a while in the glass. With air, this became considerable more red-fruited and elegant, but was just less intoxicatingly beautiful.

On the palate: ah, this was tricky (hence the weird score). On entry: oh my. Silky, fresh, lush, SUPER elegant, palate coating, mid acidity. This was actually super beautiful.

Then came this abruptly short finish that left everyone going ‘huh?’. That was a real let down.

BUT I HAVE TO SAY, I see the magic now.

#closrougeard