I’d hate to think of myself as an ‘evangelist’ for anything because I’m a fan of balance; as such, when it comes to sealing a bottle I’ll buy wine that has been stoppered with anything if I’m intending to drink it within 2-3 years – both colours – but if I’m cellaring whites I want DIAM. The ‘traditional’ alternative has cost me too much over the years. I’d take screwcap too, but I so rarely see them. For reds I don’t have any problem staying with cork, but here’s an interesting example of one of the earliest DIAM bottlings, but still in perfect condition after 15 years.

2005 Roger Belland, Santenay 1er La Comme
DIAM seals were commercially available since 2004, here’s an example for an early adopter, but in red. This seal was in perfect condition – wine ingress amounting to no more than 2mm – at that rate the wine will age 100 years before the seal is breached!
Plenty of colour. Fresh, intense, the last vestiges of creamy oak – this nose is now far more interesting than when the wine was young. There’s a little grain of tannin at the base of this wine but the texture is good and the concentration for the label is very impressive – that’s the vintage of course. The creamy oak on the nose overlays the fruit on the palate too – but gives this wine an extra something to its baseline and little extra gloss. The flavour widening impressively in the finish. It’s a shame that this is my last of these; what was once concentrated, oaky and lacking a little clarity is now very good – another 5 years and it could be a dry fine Santenay indeed!
Rebuy – Yes