Domaine de la Mordoree Lirac, Cuvee de la Reine des Bois, 1998

I declared this wine nearly comatose after a previous tasting. This bottle makes me want to take it all back.

Deep ruby with minimal amber./ Beautiful bouquet of cassis, cinnamon, black fruits and coffee. The new oak has integrated nicely with the traditional Lirac fruit./ Silky smooth as I would expect from a wine aged in barriques but there is nothing to detract from the ripe, ripe fruit flavors of Grenache and Syrah. Very long finish with no hint of oxidation. This is the modern style of Southern Rhone at its best.

Cuveee de la Reine des Bois is Mordoree's premium bottling--the estate's oldest and best vines, given special winemaking treatment. I ordinarily prefer the less expensive regular bottling because I believe there are hazards involved with some modern winemaking methods. It's too easy with barriques to disguise the distinctive fruit flavors and expose the wine to too much oxygen before it is bottled. The previous bottle I disliked may have been the victim of poor storage before it reached me. But I have read other reports of the early demise of the 1998 Cuvee de la Reine des Bois. At this point in time, the wine is apparently showing bottle variation, and I am happy to encounter such a fine example.