Chateau St. Jean 96 Cinq C'epages

[bigredwines]

Had lunch today with a great friend, great food, and a great wine.when the bottle was opened the room filled with fruit and floral.this bottle really came to life after a half hour.plum and blackberry and oak flavors. noted a hint of mint with almost perfect tannins and a verrrry smooth and lasting finish. paired with italian steak. diced egg plant,red peppers,garlic, celery,tirnup,tomatoes,summer squash with basil and oregano.mixed with tenderised round steak browned in olive oil and butter,add half bottle of good red wine and cook till thick.made for a great saturday after noon lunch. thanks for the a great time w.w. and it is good to have you back from a very long sab.looking forward to your many posts again.w.w.you should post your recipe for Italian steak in the food and wine section.

[winoweenie]

This sucker has grown some very attractive whiskers over the past year. Strong aromatics due to the Cab Franc with the merlot, malbec, and petite verdot adding the bordeaux-like complexities. Would never be mistaken for a Bordeaux (except for maybe a huge St. Emilion like the 82 Cheval). Big without being overblown and with a killer 4&1/2 lapper finish. Still some rounded tannins in the back that will go with another 2-3. Reaally good drink and, while it may not, IMHO, be the wine-of-the-year as the Specumtater annoited it, it is certailnly an outstanding bottling. 92/94. 35 & 39 by the box. 14.4% alc by volume. HOT-DIGGITY-DAWGGY-POO-BURGER-DO-THAT-JUICE-TASTE-KEEN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! WW ( the weener be back) [img]http://wines.com/ubb2/wink.gif[/img] [img]http://wines.com/ubb2/wink.gif[/img] [img]http://wines.com/ubb2/wink.gif[/img] [img]http://wines.com/ubb2/wink.gif[/img];p)

[dananne]

Congrats on the sabbatical end, and also great job with the diet news that I followed on another thread!

[Drew]

Velcome back...hope the next bunch of bottles are as KEEN as that one....

DRew

[winoweenie]

One lil' aside. Drinking 2 glasses at lunch and none a dinner wasn't nearly as hard as I thot! I just kept saying to myself 2 glasses be better than H2O. WW [img]http://wines.com/ubb2/wink.gif[/img]