I've opened a couple of aged French wines from the cellar lately, and just got to them in time. 2001 was 9 years ago now, so many wines will be showing their age. First up was the 2001 Patrick Lesec Kristial Chateauneuf du Pape. This wasn't a particularly expensive Chateauneuf, and was stored in my passive cellar for years. As such, I wasn't surprised at its advanced age. The wine still had some nice terroir and a bit of dark fruit from the Grenache, but it wasn't a stunner. I enjoyed the wine on the first night, but by the second, the soy notes characteristic of a very advanced Chateauneuf were creeping in.
Up next was the 2001 Chateau La Roque Pic St-Loup Cupa Numismae. I'm sad to say that having multiple vintages of this, I seem to have kept them all too long thinking the Mourvedre-dominant blend needed years to settle. Instead, these wines (again stored passively) seemed to age quickly. This wine was similar to the Lesec in that on the first night, it was still good, though not great. On the second night though, things were evolving fast, and it wasn't as enjoyable. Overall, I'm glad I didn't wait any longer on these two wines, and wish I had probably opened them a bit sooner. I'm trying to do a better job at cellar management, so expect more picks from there in 2010 as I grab wines before they begin to fade.
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