2010 Chateau Pre La Lande (Bordeaux)

The 2010 Chateau Pre La Lande Bordeaux (originally $13, I believe?). Opened and decanted immediately before dinner.

Nose: Red fruits, a little pencil eraser, and acetone on the nose (but not in an unpleasant way). If I hadn't looked at the bottle, I'd probably have assumed this was 2018 or 2019. Still very dark purple in color, good legs. 

Palate: Good fruit-forward flavors, pronounced but mellowing tanins. Had an interestingly minty note on the palate when first opened, but that appears to have disappated over the last hour or two and mellowed into ... stone fruits, I think? Particularly into slightly underripe nectarine. Very pleasant, particularly for the price. I'll look for more of these in future Garagiste offerings.

Pairing: Served (excellently) with a prime ribeye, garlic mashed potatoes, and well-roasted beets; held up to the fattiness and richness of the beef and the garlic mashed potatoes and the sharpness of the beets, and is growing ever more pleasant as it's remained open.

Takeaway: I think I might mark the rest of the case as a wait until the middle of 2023 to try again, and would probably open and decant an hour before I start drinking it. 

Phil's wine disclaimer: I'll offer this on wine going forward: Dad's wines were stored in near-perfect conditions since they were acquired, in a well-insulated and dark basement cellar where they were rarely moved or exposed to light. Anything from 2005 and after was almost certainly purchased from Garagiste in Seattle (garagiste.com), so they almost certainly came with excellent provenance and were stored in ideal conditions in the Garagiste warehouses before we picked them up. I also grew up drinking well-aged red wines, particularly Bordeaux and New World variations on the noble grapes, so YMMV. Particularly if you didn't store them properly or don't know much about the chain of custody on your bottle.

Score: 7 out of 10 Denalis.

#wine #bordeaux #chateauprelalande