Yes, I have posted this wine before–several times–and will continue to until it runs out. What a beautiful little bottle of wine. Glowing garnet, bricking hard, sweet nutty tertiary flowing out of it in bucketfuls with a spicy togetherness of mint and wet leather bound tight around perfect barnyard. A musty perfection showing just the right decadent alcohol and dessert-like fruit.
In the mouth, the 12 years shows even less than in the nose, arguably fruit-fading, but still so jam-packed I would place this on a pedestal alongside many perfect–and double-priced–Merlots. Easily one of my favorite cheap Super-Tuscans, the gritty-grimy mineral, acidity, and still-relevant tannin provide a perfect juxtaposition to all the sweet fruit.
While this 2005 is a bit rare and most of them out there probably have less-than-perfect provenance, the current releases are quite readily available at a variety of common corporate outlets–a testament to Kendall Jackson marketing and production. Don’t let that fact dissuade you. Buy it whenever you can. Handily the finest sub-30$ red wine on the shelf of any grocer.
2005 ARCANUM ‘Il Fauno’ IGT ME/Cab/CF 77/18/5 Super Tuscan Toscana Italy 14.5
Stephen McConnell 