HRR Borderies 1911 39,5%

Heritage Rene Riviere Borderies 1911 39,5%

Ancestral Borderies 

I’ve to tell you that if I have got a sweet spot on 60’s Petite Champagne, I’ve got another one on very old Borderies. And with Heritage Rene Riviere, we’re talking about very old  Borderies. 

And about this specific year, 1911, you have to know that it was one the warmest years of the century, with a constant heatwave from July 5 to September 13 (I was not able to find precise data about Cognac, but concerning Bordeaux, July and August 1911 are amongst the 10 warmest months ever recorded). These extreme weather conditions are quite reminding us this current year, probably implying high-degree distillation wines and early harvests. 

Colour: Mahogany, gold lights. Medium irregular tears.

Nose: Wow. Unreal fresh notes of orange juice melted to an ample floridness. Full of fig and rhubarb tart scents too. Undeniable old Borderies DNA. Great creamy notes of goat cheese followed by generous violet blossom shades. Everything is slightly honeyed, a bit like the patine you find on old white Burgundy wines. Delicate sugariness, something on tangerine jam and peach syrup. I can easily spend hours on this fabulous nose. 

Palate: Oily texture. Ample fruity notes, a full spoon of honey, and licorice syrup. Many types of aromas at the same time. And now it’s time for herbal tones, and you get delicious parsley and cooked basil notes. 39,5%? No f*cking way! My palate is a dancefloor. Great spices aromas. Safran, caraway, starred anise, badian. It remains quite fruity, mainly on fig jam, but the best part is dedicated to this splendid herbal/menthol/spiced mix. 

Last Notes: Full of red berries scents now. Blackberry jam, grenadine syrup, and blackcurrant juice. A little leathery on brand-new shoe notes. Lingering cooked herbal notes, on basil (again) and fennel. Raspberry liqueur scents in the background. Obvious red fruits/red berries DNA with air, but well underlined by creamy notes, you now get well-done buffala camembert notes. Back on the palate, you still have a nice oily texture, but you feel that it has lost some strength. However, it has not become watery at all. Still balanced between herbal and fruity notes, maybe a bit less precise than previously perceived. It ends on dried bay leaves and nutmeg aromas.   

Do I have tasted something similar before? Of course not. This very old Borderies has kept a lot of character and gave me a sensational tasting time. Some minor shortcomings, but 1911 and 39,5%, so I can be a bit forgiving for this rarity. 

My very subjective note: 90+/100

Interstellar Session #2