La Cave de Monterail Côtes du Rhône Villages Séguret

This proved not to be a very successful selection with a nose that screamed sour cherry and a palate that's most prominent feature was a bitter finish showing off a little too much oak - you can't win them all, I'm just hoping this was a flawed bottle as I have another sitting in the cellar.

Final bottle better balanced than its predecessor. Definitely time to drink up.

On day two, a noticeable decline in acidity and consequently the fruit lacks any freshness. Is this surprising for a 2009 Seguret? I must open my remaining bottle soon, in the hope that bottle variation will yield a surprise.

I approached this with little confidence, given the single previous score of 78 and the fact that I was tasting at the very end of CT's suggested drinking window. It IS time to drink up. This is clearly on the down-slope of its drinking curve. However, this will appeal to some palates. To me it tastes slightly over-extracted (jammy, even) but still has some balancing acidity and a hint of the tannins that may have given it some backbone. I …