Not sure where this wine’s coming from or where it’s headed… kinda an insipid little wine, ridiculously closed-in and unforgiving, and yet: crazy deep tincture and shocking acid abound. Does that make it *unbalanced*? Yes, it does. But with that said, what do you expect from an 8YO Crozes? Black and inpenetrable in the glass, absolutley no clarity what-so-ever. An alcoholic, funky nose, delving down into ripeness at all points where one would expect some notes of brightness. But there’s none here. It’s dull. It’s distilled. It’s dreary–in nose at least–in the way it makes not-too-interesting points. Decanted heavily with great hopes.

In the mouth, shocking shards of Vit-C acidity rule. A bit of dankness plays out: a welcome additon, but not enough to round out the mouth-feel. ‘Fruit’ is a vague situation, played out in one-dimensional bite where the ripeness–or lack thereof–cascades onto the palate in shrill dullness. While drinkable, I can’t find anything compelling to say about this wine: it’s just a chalky, dull body of indefinite-ness and basically a mess. Age has not been kind to something which *might* have been interesting on release. The too-cool-for-school group will plug this for it’s *story*, but there’s no there there. I can’t find anything to appreciate.

2015 ALAIN GRAILLOT ‘Les Chenes Verts’ Crozes-Hermitage AC Rhone France 13.0

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