| | We have been wanting to do a lunch at Golden Peony since a few of us discovered that they do a fabulous Lap Mei Fan. What better occasion then when J got her hands on a few bottle of 1982 tempranillos. Gary kindly contributed one other bottle, all in all making for a lovely lunch. - 1982 Marqués de Riscal Rioja Reserva - Spain, La Rioja, La Rioja Alavesa, Rioja
Very variable in the glass - great at some periods, not that fantastic at others, but all in all, a really nice wine. It had a pretty, rather lifted nose, with high-toned scents of morello cherries, red dates and a dusting of dried plum powder alongside a bit of wet earth and spice, a little touch of balsam wood and a a lovely waft of perfumy flowers. A great nose. The palate was definitely not quite as strong as the nose at first, but it was still really nice nonetheless. It was super fresh and high-toned, with silky tannins and bright acidity lapping against vibrant flavours of red cherries, dates and plums on an energetic attack. The finish lacked some strength and conviction at first, petering away in a charming, if slightly insubstantial linger of smoky spice. With time though, it seemed to gain legs, stretch out and lengthened with a surprising grip of fine tannins touched with a gentle curl of smoke and a hint of dried fruit. At the point, this was drinking beautifully, possibly the best wine on the table, but another 15 minutes later and it thinned out again, showing a bit lean at the finish once more. The bottle we had was overall in very good shape and drinking wonderfully. However, I would definitely start drinking these up if I had any in the cellar. (92 pts.)
- 1982 R. López de Heredia Rioja Reserva Viña Tondonia - Spain, La Rioja, La Rioja Alta, Rioja
This was beautiful straight after it was poured, but went alarmingly downhill really quickly. On first blush, I thought it was rather more complete than the 1982 Riscal Reserva served alongside. While the nose was not quite as immediately arresting or pretty as the preceding wine, it seemed to have a greater depth and breadth to its large scale scents of foresty earth, broiled meat, umami miso notes spilled onto an underlayer of dried fruit aromas laced with coffee and balsamic scents. There was some debate on the table as to whether this had reached the end of its peak drinking period, but I thought on the palate at first that this actually had a pretty long way to go. It was a bit tight at first, a bit monolithic almost, but it quickly opened up gently into a subtly delicious mouthful of black cherries and crunchy blue and blackberries spirnkled with little drifts of earth, smoky spice and mineral. All this was cosetted in a lovely robe of perfectly integrated acidity and wonderfully resolved tannins. While the finish was not the most immdiately impressive, it had a quietly brooding presence that stretched away into a lengthy tail with little hints dried fruit, orange peel, sweet spice and dusty earth. Absolutely seamless, very classy. A beautiful drink. Unfortunately, barely 15 or 20 minutes after that, the wine started to lean out bit by bit, starting at the finish and ending on the midpalate, where the fruit receded and the wine began to show its acid and fine tannin bone-structure. Time to drink up, but boy was it good when it lasted. (93 pts.)
- 1985 C.V.N.E. (Compañía Vinícola del Norte de España) Rioja Imperial Gran Reserva - Spain, La Rioja, La Rioja Alta, Rioja
I liked this very much. However, unlike the two 1982 Rioja reservas we had alongside, this bottle was nowhere near ready and could really have used another 5 or 6 years or even more in the bottle before serving. This had the funkiest nose of the four tempranillos on the day, opening with a whoosh of wet dog, fresh mud and undergrowth at the fore. A bit too much at first, so I was thankful that the funk faded away a little to reveal a core of blackberries, dark cherries and sweet wood spice aromas. It was pretty decent at that point. The palate was lovely from the get-go though, with far less funk than on the nose. In fact, what struck me was the lovely freshness, structure and depth it had to its fresh flavours of black cherry fruit, red dates and earth. Amazingly for a wine well past its 20th year, it was still rather grippy and pretty primary, especially towards the back-end, where a twist of orange peel mingled with the fresh dark fruit before a mouthful of spice opened up alongside fine tannins at the finish. Really nice, but this needs a lot of time still to unfold. I have no doubt it will be a beautiful drink over the next decade or so. (92 pts.)
- 1982 Bodegas Yllera Ribera del Duero Los Curros Reserva - Spain, Castilla y León, Ribera del Duero
Once again, lovely stuff. A completely different animal from the trio of lovely Riojas that preceded it, but this stood toe-to-toe with them in terms of quality. It had a real stand-out nose, practically screaming for attention with a stream of rich black fruited aromas, juniper berries and licorice, wood spice and broiled herbs, coffee grounds and cigarette smoke. There was more than a hint of Ricola herbal candy scents in there as well. Interesting stuff. The palate too was clearly different from the Riojas, this was richer, sweeter, with ripe black fruited flavours at the forefront - think cassis and blackberries - along with a mouthful of licorice, wood spice and more broiled herbs as the wine pulled away into beautifully detailed finish touched by oak spice and sweet dried fruited accents. It would have been a bit too in your face if not for the fact that is was beautifully balanced and well structured by fresh acidity and fine tannins. Superb. Perfect pairing with Dongpo pork as well. Of all the wines, this was probably drinking the past. Neither on its way downhill nor too young, it was just about right. (93 pts.)
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