TN: Paul Jaboulet Aine 'Domaine De Thalabert" Crozes Hermitage 2005

[Waiters Friend]

Light purple tending to garnet, but with a darker core. Soft developed red fruits, leather, tobacco, dried thyme, and cola on the nose. The palate is soft, with gentle tannins, traces of plummy fruit, and moderate acid retaining elements of freshness and slight tartness. Medium length, and an interesting wine. I don't have enough experience with these wines to tell if this is 'normal' development.

[Ian S]

A wine with a wonderful track record for ageing, though they did go through a wobbly patch - not sure if they were out of it at this point. Could often have some leathery/gamey/stinky complexity, which I love, but can be a shock for those not used to it. It sounds consistent enough with what I recall from earlier vintages and at this age I'd expect savoury notes to be outpacing the fruit.

[JamieBahrain]

Sounds like normal Northern Rhone development and like Ian I'm not sure when their rough patch was. I can't recall if they had brett issues or just bad winemaking?

I bought a lot of the wine a decade ago at about $20 a bottle. It's reputation tarnished but I couldn't get past my experiences with the amazing vintages such as the 78(?) and 90.The mid 2000 vintages I bought up were far more modern than the styles of old- riper fruit profile and not as classically structured ( though classically structured by Aussie standards ).

[sjw_11]

What funny timing, I literally 5min ago ordered a 6 pack of this wine (and checking that, discovered it was the 2008, I assumed it was a recent vintage but happy days!) .. about AU$20 equivalent, I am just adding a few easy drinking things to the cupboard while in confinement. In case the deliveries become less available.

And it turns out I had one of these in January last year, albeit the 2013
1/28/2019 - I LIKE THIS WINE: 91 points (Edit)
Deep colour. Quite rich nose- stewed plums, a touch of Xmas spice, plus vanilla. Quite restrained. Still youthful on both the nose and the palate. Slippery red fruits on the mouth, followed by a surprisingly firm finish with relatively dense tannins. I suspect this will drink better in 2-3 years and hold for at least a decade.(which apparently 3 people have found helpful)