When last I drink Orion, it was the 1995 vintage, which I rated a (very) rare A+. I thought I’d never have Orion again, but then my wife surprised me with a whole case of 2005 Orion (plus a bottle of that ‘95) for our tenth anniversary. I cracked open bottle #1 tonight to see what might have changed in 10 long years.

I was shocked. I drank the ‘95 in 2002, seven years after harvest. Here I am with the ‘05 just three years later… surely it would be tight, considering how inky black this wine is when you pour it. (Seriously, pour an inch into a glass and it block all the light.) As with the ‘95, though, this was as light as a breeze. No tannin, almost like a perfectly-aged Pinot Noir, but incongruously as black as the night.

Cocoa powder is the big secondary note here, laced through the plum and cherry of the wine. A little different than the 1995, but outstanding and, shockingly, ready to drink right now. How fast should I drink 11 more bottles of the stuff? Two a year, perhaps? I’ll try to report back from time to time to see how the Orion ages in the cellar.

A / $70+ / wine-maker.net