“I would like you to taste this”, Roch Teisserenc tells me during one of my latest visits at the winery, while giving me a small bulbous bottle.
Palais Royal (in French “palais” means both palace and palate) is written on the label, with the supplementary notion “Vin de Liqueur”
Despite its size, the bottle seems quite heavy to me. Heavy and compact.
I have the same impression when once the bottle opened, the wine lazily runs
into my glass. A thick liquid, though far from looking like syrup, just gliding more slowly than usual out of the bottle.
Beyond its dark and ruby colour, it shows the slight dimness of unfiltered wines, together with some hues of red brick.
A first nose of dried fruits, chestnut and sultana. Then a second nose, a third one, more ethereal, where a pleasant perception of alcohol makes notes of cherry and blackberries to rise from the glass.
Its mellowness quickly evolves into roundness in the mouth, roundness carried by a continuous and surprising acidity, giving finally space to well constructed tannins
Once they are gone, retro olfaction remains holding delicate flavours, some of them fruity but most of them spicy : vanilla, cinnamon, a hint of chocolate...
A powerful, silky wine, perfectly suitable tailored to long winter nights, good company, Belgian chocolate and good cigars.