Domaine Berthoumieu, L'Argelis, Madiran

dark dense intense good and could go many more years. definitely decant for sediment and air.

3rd bottle, first in two years. A much better showing than the previous two. Nose is open right out of the gate with seductive baking spices, gingerbread-like with some really exotic berbere-spice notes swirled among darker, black fruits; the palate follows, with still some sour oak closing off the finish. Its rich on the attack but brisk and energetic due to Tannat's characteristic acidity. Will this turn the corner into a tertiary phase down the road? Someone else is going …

Produced by Didier Barré of Domaine Berthoumieu, though there is no mention of the domaine on the label. 100% Tannat from 100-year-old+ vines, 100% new oak. Very heavily oaked and very, very closed. Swirling vigorously does yield some promising truffle, iodine, granite, sour fruits, kirsch, cardamom, but the oak runs roughshod all over the palate and there's a fortress wall of tannins on the finish. Needs 10-20 years.