I had a glass of this wine at Chez Panisse in Berkeley three years ago and loved it. The waiter agreed with me that this wine would be a perfect match for the Provencal dish that I ordered. I don't remember now what the entree was, but I remember that the combination of wine and food was superb. Upon returning to Chicago, I went to Binny's and bought two bottles to take home.
The wine as I remember it from Chez Panisse was much better than the wine in my glass tonight--mostly, I think, because the magic of eating at such a fine restaurant is no longer present but also, I suspect, because the balance of the wine has suffered a bit with aging.
When I first open the bottle, beautiful aromas of fruit/spice/flowers fill the room. Sniffing the glass, though, I get mostly funky barnyard smells. Don't get me wrong; I like barnyard smells, and I like funky Provencal wines. In this wine, I believe, the smells are from brettanomyces and not from the the Mourvedre in the blend. There is also a pungent, brett-like trait on the palate, and eventually the wine becomes a little tiring to drink. For $15, it's still a good wine but not the special one I remember.
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