Believe this is the 1st vintage released to the public. At age 15 finally decided to pop a bottle and see what's what.
+1 hour decant(some fine/cloudy sediment). A striking still inky dark magenta color. On the nose: subdued nose of dark fruit, graphite, clove, forest floor, smokey vanilla. Taste: silky, rich, nice depth mouthcoating wine with blackberry, gravel, baked fig, rich soil, and a dark chocolate tobacco finish with some slightly chewy tannins and a just a touch of heat at the end. YUM! — 2 months ago
2009 vintage ( half bottle). Looks more evolved than the 2010 tasted alongside. But it is also much more complex. Intense perfume showing an abundance of noble rot, with roasted nuts, pineapple, honey, and a hint of thyme. Concentrated and layered, perfectly balanced and very long. Seems to be a notch above the 2010 today — 18 days ago
Decanted for 2 hours before we touched it
2nd sip was better than the first. As if you needed the first sip to prepare yourself for this wine
Overall great structure and solid fruit. Improved with airtime. Delicious wine. — a month ago
Dark berries, a little tobacco, decent minerals — 2 months ago
Lemon yellow . Quite restrained and elegant, fine bubbles , white flowers , slightly more yellow fruits , buttered bread , pastry . On the palate , crystallised fruits , ginger , mineral , quite taut mouth feel . Lemon peel , grapefruit, touch of honey . Good acidity and mineral , chalky , steely finish . Still showing quite young , with excellent focus and good length . Drink now and over the next 10 years — 3 months ago
Half off wine Wednesday. At less than retail - we couldn’t resist. Was solid but not spectacular — 6 months ago
Andrew Cullimore
Medium ruby centre with wide light garnet rim . This is a bit less fruit driven than I remember the last time I had this , 3 years ago or so . Nice spiced red cherry , blackcurrant , porcini , dried spices, touch smoky , dried rose and a balsamic hint . On the palate sweet red cherry , balsamic tinged blackberry , herbal and smoked black tea notes . This has very fine , velvety sweet tannins , and still quite good acidity , just balanced alcohol, I would drink this on the cooler side . The finish is medium length and with a spiced , liquorice note . This is firmly in its prime drinking window , showing some development whilst maintaining good density and ripe fruit on the palate . Drink now and over the next 5 -8 years or so . Not the most complex Cascina Francia , but incredibly enjoyable to drink now . — 18 days ago