- 1989 Couly-Dutheil Chinon Clos de l'Olive - France, Loire Valley, Touraine, Chinon (9/12/2008)
42,90€; 12,5% abv; 4,6g/l acidity. Dark, deep red colour. Upon opening it seemed quite aged with lots of leafy and earthy smells, but oddly enough over a couple hours it seemed to get younger! It turned from a seemingly delicate, old wine into a robust even meaty example of Loire Cab Franc. Dark & sweet fruit (quite roasted in character - warm year, I guess), lovely herbaceous notes, much more fresh than upon opening. Quite a full bodied example of Chinon, very warm year in style with sweet fruit, low acidity but still rather charmingly obvious tannins. I did like this, but it did seem a bit top-heavy with more fruit and less acidity than I would find ideal. Lamb, marinated in herbs, left rare was quite ideal with such a wine. Very nice!