Abbatucci’s 2011 Cuvee Collection: General de la Revolution Jean-Charles Abbatucci – for more on whose vinification and roster of ancient cepages, consult my review of the 2010 in issue 205 – is very nearly as exciting as that immediate predecessor. The persistent effusion on nose and palate of myriad floral and herbal essences appears to be a glorious constant in this cuvee, here favoring a cooling, bittersweet and ultimately soothing alliance of honeysuckle and iris, mint and thyme. The open airiness, lift and delicacy of the 2010 are present here, too – if perhaps marginally less strikingly – and there is an intricate lingering impingement of things saline, stony and somehow crystalline hard to put into less nebulous or dubious words. Like Abbatucci’s corresponding “Ministre Imperial” red, this is a wine of mind-bending profundity in the sense that even as it seduces, it will stretch your imagination and alter your thinking concerning what’s possible from grapes. Speaking of which, I still can’t tell you what to expect from this cuvee as bottles mature, but prudence suggests on no account failing to enjoy over the next couple of years most of any bottles you acquire. It would be too much of a shame to miss out on what this wine is delivering now. On the other hand, it would be a shame not to follow at least a bottle or two down the road a few years if one can locate and afford a sufficient number. - David Schildknecht