WTN: d'Aiguilhe '98 and '00 and Interlude Gamay Noir '97

Notes from last night's tapas dinner at Barcino Gourmet

Chateau d'Aiguilhe 1998 - Slightly musty with a mint undertone. Tannic, very young, closed tight with prominent acidity in the long, slightly smoky finish. After 45 minutes, the fruit finally made an appearance and the wine had softened enough to make it good to drink. Needs a few years to come together but if you want to drink it, best to decant for at least an hour.

Chateau d'Aiguilhe 2000 - Beautiful wine straight from the bottle. Great masses of ripe berry on nose and palate. Dense, full, concentrated but well balanced. Tannins are noticeably softer than the '98. More foreard and ready to drink. Can only improve with more time but already drinking very well. Outstanding.

Interlude Gamay Noir Stellenbosch 1997 - A light and dry wine that features obvious strawberry scents and flavor and not much else. Arnie said he detected banana on the finish but I couldn't find any of that. Interesting quaffer

Your impression of Aiguilhe 98 is quite different from mine a few weeks ago. My bottle was fully mature and harmonious more like your 2000.

I wonder whether I should put this down to my rather warm cellar, currently about 18°C (66°F) in a cold July and about 14° minimum in this year's warm winter. Do you know how your bottle was stored?

The wines were brought by a friend of mine. He got the '98 from a wine store about 2 months back and just stored it in an air-conditioned room. I know the store and am sure it was stored well there. I doubt the storage would account for it as it's definitely much warmer here! I guess it's just bottle variation.