1989 Banyuls

The Chapoutier 1989 Banyuls - another wine they purchased and bottled in 2009 - uncannily combines oxidative notes of creme caramel, toasted nuts, smoky black tea, and cocoa, with black raspberry and dark cherry preserves that retain quite a vivid sense of fruit skin tartness and primary juiciness. This finishes with generous length and considerable complexity. I would tentatively plan to enjoy it over the next half dozen years, though I readily confess that it might well be proof against much longer aging. Importer: Paterno Imports, Lake Bluff, IL; tel. (847) 604-8900