How long is too long? In this case, ten years.

Anyone who stores wine to let it mature into something (hopefully) better wonders just how long each bottle is good for. The problem is, there is no science to it – you take your best guess and hope you don’t wait too long.

We purchased this bottle of Bonny Doon Le Cigare Volant red wine (36% Mourvedre, 34% Syrah, 30% Grenache) eight years ago and decided it was worth aging a bit. We put it away in our little wine frig and forgot all about it until yesterday when it was ten years old.

The wine was lovely, but it had a consistent mustiness to it suggesting we waited a couple years too long to enjoy it. Still, a very nice wine and a newer bottle would be lovely.

Nose: Grapes, cherries, earth, vine and (there it is) mustiness on the finish. Loads of nice earthy fruit aromas.

Taste: Rich, thick, and oily with leather and earthy dark berry flavors along with the mustiness. Nicely balanced with a notable French styling (as the winery noted “ . . . based on the traditional encépagement of Châteauneuf-du-Pape.”)

Food: We paired this with crab cakes and a green salad, which was great. This wine would go well with roast pork or chicken (like Coq Au Vin)  as well.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, October 14th, 2009 at 8:33 pm and is filed under WineNotes. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.