(Re-Tasted July 2012) ... Back in 2005 I said "this is not your typical Gamay" - but why I decided to keep it in the cellar another 7 years is beyond me ... maybe I wanted to prove myself correct. With a slight browning on the edges I have to admit I was I little circumspect about trying this wine, thinking that maybe it did not age well. Browning is not a sign of bad wine, but it is not a colour you see in Gamay, which is something you usually drink much younger than 10 years old. My notes for this tasting are peppered with one word, and it appears four times on the page in various forms, "surprising". The wine was "surprisingly very drinkable", not the best Gamay I have ever had but it was still holding up quite well. Very little in the way of fruit, besides some dried cherry and cassis notes, there were vanilla and smoky notes that were also presen,t but the wine was mainly an array of spices with a short finish. For a wine I held out no hope for when I opened it as I sniff and sipped I found myself being very impressed ... which I found very, you guessed it, surprising.