Second to last bottle of Alain Graillot 2001 Crozes-Hermitage "La Guiraude," and something about it just ain't right: pruney fruit overlaid with choking fireplace smoke, and even with air it never fills out or comes into balance. Seems either cooked or lightly oxidized, but it's from a batch cellared since 2004 of which earlier bottles seemed fine. The cork did come out surprisingly easily, so maybe that was it. I'll cross my fingers that the last one has more life left in it than this.
Replaced, in a non sequitur, by a Merryvale 2007 Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon. Plush, blackberry, currant, rich in the mouth, walks up to the edge of hot without tipping (14.9%), but there's ultimately nothing interesting here: tastes like skillfully made wine-by-marketing-committee. Maybe this will become engagingly tertiary with time -- but more likely it will just slowly lose its fruit.