Medium yellow. Nose starts with savoury oak which slowly fades to nice brioche – wide and interesting – it’s a good start. Soft and smooth texture, widening on the palate. It’s a little mineral and has super balance. Could perhaps benefit from an extra depth, but maybe it’s just tightness that I perceive. Very nice length and the nose remains interesting throughout.
A ‘monopole’ I never heard of. Lots of attention has been made to the upmarket packaging, but how do the contents reflect the producer’s aspirations? Medium-pale ruby-red colour – looks older than the label suggests. The nose shows plenty of medium-toast, deep oak, above is a herbal pot-pourri element rather than the more common cedar of the vintage. Light-bodied but light on it’s feet too and with very good texture – the tannins have quite a fine grain. The acidity is fresh and even intense in the mid-palate, lingering into a good finish. Actually this is very well made – plenty of expensive oak, but well integrated and no heavy-handed extraction. The oak is just a little more obvious than my preference but this is both well-made and good value at €15.
Medium, medium-pale colour. Aromatically more impressive than you expect from the colour, deep with a faint edge of coffee – only turning redder and finer with a little tobacco and spice as you slowly drain the glass – no green notes. Light but intense in the mouth – it’s the slightly bright acidity that adds to the apparent intensity. Red berry fruit that slowly fades, good, understated velvet tannins. It’s precocious though quite well balanced, I’d be tempted to drink this younger rather than older. Tasty.
A medium cherry-red colour. The nose whilst showing lots of herbal, spice and floral elements has none of the ‘2004 cedar’ – very interesting. The palate is lithe and quite linear, a touch austere even, but great fruit, a sneaky extra dimension on the mid-palate and a very, very impressive, if understated finish keep you coming back for more. It clearly needs time but I expect it should repay the wait – say from 2015…
Medium, medium-plus cherry-red colour. Obviously a 2004 with soft cedar top-notes that mingle with raspberry and eventually redcurrant. When opened there is too much carbon dioxide; you can see the density and good texture but little else. I stoppered it and returned next day. The CO2 is gone and the fine texture and good depth remain. I’m sure there’s more villages wine than than ‘regional’ in this blend – it’s almost good and apart from the texture I see little overt oak. So what’s the rub? – Well, €18 per bottle (in Beaune) – it’s good, but not that good.
Medium, Medium-pale colour. Aromatically more impressive than you expect from the colour, deep with a faint edge of coffee – only turning redder and finer with a little tobacco and spice as you slowly drain the glass – no green notes. Light but intense in the mouth – it’s the slightly bright acidity that adds to the apparent intensity. Red berry fruit that slowly fades, good, understated velvet tannins. It’s precocious though quite well balanced, I’d be tempted to drink this younger rather than older.
Rather deeply coloured. The nose starts tight, clean, slightly floral but gets progressively more impressive with red fruit that has a twist of blueberry in the mix – despite being primary it becomes very lovely – there is a hint of the vintage green somewhere but it’s on such a low level it is really additive. The palate is linear and intense, also very clean and mineral even. It’s just a little more unruly in the mid-palate but only because it’s so effusive. It’s a lower-case finish showing a slightly creamy undertone. This is very impressive for a 2004, I must look out for the 2005!
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