1999 Crozes Hermitage, A. Graillot
When searching my cellar for an appropriate wine for tonight's dinner of elk fillet, my eyes happened to fall on a bottle of this wine and I thought it both could be a nice match to the meat and interesting to check its status. While the meat was truly exceptional, the wine was good, but a bit to young and acid driven to be a great match. Graillot's Crozes Hermitages never fail to amaze me with their slow development and their ability to retain the youthful, flowery aromatics, even when some meatiness has developed.
The colour is still deep red with a purplish hue on the rim.
The nose is first most typically aromatic and fresh. Flowery. some black pepper and raspberries too. After a while a nice gamey meatiness starts getting through, but the overall impression is still mostly of youthfulness and freshness.
The fresh acidity gives an initial sense of fruity freshness. The palate is rather intense and peppery. The tannins are not too pronounce, with a fine grained texture that gives a nice mouthfeel. The aftertaste is a bit dry, peppery and dominated by the fresh, juicy acidity.
This is a wine that has just started to show some maturity, but still need several years to have its edges a bit more rounded off. Still the acidity will always be a strong part of its character. One would have expected 9 years to have imparted more maturity to this wine, but, again, Graillot's wines do keep their youthfulness for longer than one might expect.
Cheers,
Anders