On the occasion of the first international Carignan Day, Pierre Cros had taken some old vintages of his pure Carignan from the cellar, to organise a “vertical” tasting from 1999 up to 2011. Some of these vintages are quite familiar to me, like those from 2002, 2007, 2009, and 2010, but I was curious to see how the older vintages would look like. After a meticulous preparation of the bottles (they were all opened 4 hours earlier and served at 16°C) I could finally taste them, accompanied by friends of Domaine Cros and two passionate wine journalists. The tasting started with the 1999 vintage.

Some of us, being ahead of me, already wrote about the tasting and their favourite wines (2000, 2002, 2004, 2005 and 2010 for Michel S. , 1999 and 2007 for André D. ).

Nach einigen Monaten der Überlegung finden Sie hier unter nun meine eigenen Eindrücke. Damit ich Sie nicht in 13 Jahrgängen endloser Weinpoesie verliere, sollen einige Stichwort ausreichen, um die Weine zu beschreiben, es sei denn, es dürstet mich nach mehr.

2011
2011 creamy, tasty, lively

2010
still young, fruity, few tannins, fresh, citrus aromas

2009
very ripe, full-bodied, great tannin structure, straight, chewy

2008
very fruity, rich, smooth, dense

2007
buttery, fatty, velvety, generous

2006
fresh, still young, full-bodied, well structured

2005
This wine really shows freshness and youth, together with well-structured, fine tannins. It seems to age slowly and may still have a couple of years to go. Great with crispy, roasted duck or a French Cassoulet

2004
gingerbread, chilli, smooth, velvety… quite exotic impressions. Drink now or leave it for another three years

2003
melting, luscious, generous, together with a pleasant feeling of warmth (but much less as one might have expected due to this hot vintage), nice tannins

2002
spices, caramel, silky – a beautiful ten-year old wine. Who would have expected this during harvest? Probably another indication that wine is mainly made in the vineyard. This wine was made by 97 year old vineyard, giving ripe tannins and spicy aromas to the grapes, in spite of the torrential rainfalls during the 2002 vintage.

2001
roasted, smoky aromas, dark fruit marmelade, flowing

2000
smooth, fresh, grassy, chocolate

1999
not much fruit left, but very elegant. A straight wine, medium-bodied, mineral and earthy – warm, freshly ploughed earth on an autumn morning. A wine for chocolate, a wine for cigars, a wine to sit by the fire place. Very intimate…