Salad with your red sir? O Chinon my Chinon!

I was so excited when I heard that the tasting I was going to was having both a 12 & 20 year old Cabernet Franc from Chinon. If you read my prior impression of Cab Franc it wasn't that happy. Too pushy and mouth puckering tanic for me. However the wine steward I know told me to wait till he got the Chinon in and try again - that it was a different animal. I did ask him and the importer what Cab Franc was associated with in so far as taste they both replied - SALAD! and laughed. Apparently some Cab Franc does have a vegetal nose or taste. So I waited for the Chinon to get in and really kind of forgot about it until the newsletter. Once in I was soooo happy I had a chance to try.

1996 Jean-Maurice Raffault Chinon Clos d’Isore - Hello salad! Okay not really but there was a good smell of earth and Leek in the nose as well as mild black pepper. Later in the glass there was some tobaco and and dark fruit. It was really a wonderful and layered aroma. Dark dense red color in the glass and not transparent at all. The first taste in my mouth I knew this was a developed wine and mature. Excellent full mouthfeel but moderate intensity and long extremely balanced body - very smooth, long, and oh so silky. In the taste immediately I hit red fruit like tart cherries and rasberries but it quickly moved deeper and more earthy with some sort of wonderful dusty mineral taste I couldn't quite get a grasp of. It certainly finished like a full french red with dusty tanic and mineral leave but without giving my tastebuds a K.O. I was really blown over by this full but subtle and complex Cabernet Franc. Its drinking so well right now its hard to think that you could wait another 5-7 years and likely it would be just as good if not better. The real wonder of this to me was the price. For the value this is a steal for anyone who loves Chinon, Cab Franc, or the southern french varietels. $$ - 36/bottle. Good luck finding it (but do try!) as I'm sure the importers are fighting over any number of bottles to come in. Simply put this so far has been my favorite red aside from my love of Pinots. O' Chinon my Chinon!