Domaine Gauby, Vieilles Vignes, Côtes du Roussillon Village, rouge 2004
It has been a while since I had my last Gauby, quite a while, but I still remember the yummy cherry flavour of his 2005 red. So I thought the 2004 might be just the wine to have with a duck breast with balsamico glazed baby carrots.
The first thing you notice is the deep, dark, glorious red colour. It is followed by a nose of cherry (hurrah!) and berries with a woodland-pepper-spiciness that finds a good addition in a hint of wild animal smell. The pleasant sensation continues in the mouth where the fruitiness of well rounded cherry-berries is nicely balanced by spicy herbs and a hint chocolate, all of which are presented in a cool, smooth way. The tannins are already well integrated.
The Gauby should be a real pleasure to drink, were it not for a finish that fills your mouth with too much vanilla. I am maybe too critical here, but the vanilla made the finish a little too smooth, too pleasant and too simple, giving up some of the character that this wine no doubt has otherwise. It is still pleasant and easy to drink and by all means a good wine, but at least for our taste a chance was lost here.
Comments
A fickle friend
Had this recently with lamb (stuffed with dried tomatos and stuff), and was less than impressed: Aromatics of overripe plum and dried herbs, but fairly imprecise and unfocused, with sweet and oxidised port notes that didn't work for me.
I think very highly of Gauby, but this one doesn't seem to age well. Something wrong with the bottle, perhaps? A bad hair day? Or maybe a reminder that "natural" wines are at all times capricious, moody fellows.
In reply to A fickle friend by Julian
Re: A fickle friend
Thanks for sharing that, really interesting. I only have a very faint memory of drinking this wine but if you set my rating in relation to the price it is obvious that I was not that impressed either, although for different reasons. Did you feel the finish had too much vanilla? If it did no longer, maybe it has receded since last year and revealed some other imbalance? Or you did just have a bad bottle. We might never know. I still have an 05 sitting here, maybe it should be drunk rather soon then? Too many questions.