Hello; Yesterday, with lamb chops and grilled veggies, we decided to open a Croze-Hermitage from Jaboulet, Le Jalet 2000. According to Hugh Johnsson, depending on quality, the CH of 2000 should either be in their prime or just beginning to drink well, so we thought it would be OK. When Xina opened the bottle, the first smell that greeted her was of SO2, quite unpleasant, but, thought we, this may clear up with aeration. The wine was decanted for mebbe 45 minutes. WHen we next poured it into our nice big quality red wine glass (SEK 95 [1] for a pack of six at IKEA), it stilled smelt unpleasant. Burnt rubber, possibly, but I´ve tasted Cote-Roti w Mike Tommassi which good guy Mike told me had this character, and this smelt nothing like it. Something doggedly, unpleasantly animal about it - not the smoked cold cuts I tend to associate with Syrah. On palate, acidity was near to aggressive, fruit was dead. The wine was also slightly turbid.
Needless to say, this wine went back inot the bottle for possible use in a sauce, or daub, and a bottle of Chateau Le Cheap vaguely Bordeaux (Malesan) was procured and imbibed without prejudice.
Now, my question is, can anyone tell me what has gone wrong with this wine? Didn´t smell corked - we are quite sensitive to TBA, particularly Xina - but I do not for a moment believe that this is the way it should be.
Cheers, and TIA
Nils Gustaf [1]
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