Blind at Roy's: Dried cherry, cranberry, slight raisin notes with tomatoe, dried herbs, and slight baking spices and a nuance of caramel from some used oak; V.A. evident, moderate body, kinda watery texture with moderate tannins, and high acid. Guessed '99 Burg 1er cru. This didn't have the 10 y.o. Rioja character of dill and suntan lotion, but thought this was excellent later with brick oven pizza!
Blind at Roy's: Dark garnet core with faded translucent garnet/orange rim; plum, raisin, old ripe cherry/cherry skin and pot pouri; molasses from remnants of oak, herbs/spices and a wet leaves, sanguine note; Med + body with fairly high drying tannins. Guessed '99 Brunello b/c of elevated tannins and acid. The mellowed oak and lack of V.A. character, as well as not having huge tannic structure should have steered me away from this though. Really good shape, but I thought hard to guess older right bank on this one.
France, Rhône, Southern Rhône, Châteauneuf-du-Pape
Blind at Roy's: Fantastic CdP with a bit of age and showing really well. Still ripe but cooked red fruits, raspberry-blackberry notes with a spicy bramble pepper aspect with herbs and fennel; oak well integrated here with sweet coffee/cinnamon nutmeg. ample tannins and acid, with just right alc coming in at 14%. All coming together, and just starting it's second life. Guessed Cote-Rotie b/c of the reasonable alcohol and peppery notes (this does have 30% Syrah, and only 40% Grenache after all!)
Blind at Roy's: Musty earth, thought it was corked for a moment but it's just damn musty with turned earth dried leaves and walnut. Dried cherry and cassis still discernable and slight green pepper/weedy aspect, showing off it's 1997 origins. Bit darker core than the others, and medium plus everything in the structure made this an easy guess for right bank Bordeaux. Guessed 1994. Did not guess left bank b/c did not have the tobacco/clove/black leather character I get in cab based Bordeaux, and because acidity/overall structure was a bit attenuated.
Blind at Roy's: This was a disappointment and somewhat boring; it seemed to have nothing at all to do with Cornas or any N. Rhone Syrah for that matter. Cloudy ruby with pink hues; showing notes of cherry, red plum, strawberry, slightly stewed red fruits, bubblegum and a touch of orange peel. entry was ripe and almost a sweet impression, plush, with a tangy finish. I guessed a very weak CdP. I still think they accidentally put grenache in this.
Blind at Roy's: Strawberry, tangy sour cherry, ripe red plum, roses, sweet cigar notes with iodine with a little oxidative dried leaf note which adds to the complexity; Almost sweet entry with Moderate + everything in structure and elevated tannins. A little dill/coconut from American oak made me think rioja. The oak was well integrated. I was stunned to find this was a '93 Silver Oak! This was showing so well and was utterly delicious. I thought it was a '90's Rioja b/c of the oak and cherry notes and high tannins. But the ripeness, and almost sweet entry should have led me to Napa Cab--the OTHER appelation where they use heavy doses of American oak. the other thing was that the alc. clocked in at 13!!! But to be fair, I don't think an older (more traditional) Rioja will show this much vanilla, caramel, coconut, as the oak should be used if not very used.
Blind at Roy's: Killer Barbaresco with great tertiary notes coming in, spices melding together, dried cherry and earthy granite/minerals and roses and orange peel coming along beautifully. Nicely balanced, full drying tannins but not softening up and really pleasant right now. Will go on for 5-10 more years easily. Guessed '99 Brunello. I thought I detected "Brunello" molasses. This is just a great Barbaresco with slightly fuller texture.
France, Rhône, Southern Rhône, Châteauneuf-du-Pape
Blind at Roy's: This was classic Grenache cooked red fruits, bubblegum wrapper/powdered sugar, lavender, some herbs and citrus peel. Classic, if not a bit too classic and normal. Not tons of character here with a soft structure. Guessed '98 CdP, but I think '98 would have been a bit more lively and structured.
1994 Marqués de Murrieta Rioja Ygay Reserva 90 Points
Spain, La Rioja, Rioja
Blind at Roy's: Dried cherry, cranberry, slight raisin notes with tomatoe, dried herbs, and slight baking spices and a nuance of caramel from some used oak; V.A. evident, moderate body, kinda watery texture with moderate tannins, and high acid. Guessed '99 Burg 1er cru. This didn't have the 10 y.o. Rioja character of dill and suntan lotion, but thought this was excellent later with brick oven pizza!
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1998 Château La Croix de Gay 89 Points
France, Bordeaux, Libournais, Pomerol
Blind at Roy's: Dark garnet core with faded translucent garnet/orange rim; plum, raisin, old ripe cherry/cherry skin and pot pouri; molasses from remnants of oak, herbs/spices and a wet leaves, sanguine note; Med + body with fairly high drying tannins. Guessed '99 Brunello b/c of elevated tannins and acid. The mellowed oak and lack of V.A. character, as well as not having huge tannic structure should have steered me away from this though. Really good shape, but I thought hard to guess older right bank on this one.
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2000 Domaine de la Solitude (Lançon Père et Fils) Châteauneuf-du-Pape Cuvée Barberini 92 Points
France, Rhône, Southern Rhône, Châteauneuf-du-Pape
Blind at Roy's: Fantastic CdP with a bit of age and showing really well. Still ripe but cooked red fruits, raspberry-blackberry notes with a spicy bramble pepper aspect with herbs and fennel; oak well integrated here with sweet coffee/cinnamon nutmeg. ample tannins and acid, with just right alc coming in at 14%. All coming together, and just starting it's second life. Guessed Cote-Rotie b/c of the reasonable alcohol and peppery notes (this does have 30% Syrah, and only 40% Grenache after all!)
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1997 Château Bourgneuf 87 Points
France, Bordeaux, Libournais, Pomerol
Blind at Roy's: Musty earth, thought it was corked for a moment but it's just damn musty with turned earth dried leaves and walnut. Dried cherry and cassis still discernable and slight green pepper/weedy aspect, showing off it's 1997 origins. Bit darker core than the others, and medium plus everything in the structure made this an easy guess for right bank Bordeaux. Guessed 1994. Did not guess left bank b/c did not have the tobacco/clove/black leather character I get in cab based Bordeaux, and because acidity/overall structure was a bit attenuated.
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1999 Paul Jaboulet Aîné Cornas Domaine de Saint Pierre 86 Points
France, Rhône, Northern Rhône, Cornas
Blind at Roy's: This was a disappointment and somewhat boring; it seemed to have nothing at all to do with Cornas or any N. Rhone Syrah for that matter. Cloudy ruby with pink hues; showing notes of cherry, red plum, strawberry, slightly stewed red fruits, bubblegum and a touch of orange peel. entry was ripe and almost a sweet impression, plush, with a tangy finish. I guessed a very weak CdP. I still think they accidentally put grenache in this.
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1993 Silver Oak Cabernet Sauvignon Alexander Valley 92 Points
USA, California, Sonoma County, Alexander Valley
Blind at Roy's: Strawberry, tangy sour cherry, ripe red plum, roses, sweet cigar notes with iodine with a little oxidative dried leaf note which adds to the complexity; Almost sweet entry with Moderate + everything in structure and elevated tannins. A little dill/coconut from American oak made me think rioja. The oak was well integrated. I was stunned to find this was a '93 Silver Oak! This was showing so well and was utterly delicious. I thought it was a '90's Rioja b/c of the oak and cherry notes and high tannins. But the ripeness, and almost sweet entry should have led me to Napa Cab--the OTHER appelation where they use heavy doses of American oak. the other thing was that the alc. clocked in at 13!!! But to be fair, I don't think an older (more traditional) Rioja will show this much vanilla, caramel, coconut, as the oak should be used if not very used.
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1999 Scarpa Barbaresco Tettineive 93 Points
Italy, Piedmont, Langhe, Barbaresco
Blind at Roy's: Killer Barbaresco with great tertiary notes coming in, spices melding together, dried cherry and earthy granite/minerals and roses and orange peel coming along beautifully. Nicely balanced, full drying tannins but not softening up and really pleasant right now. Will go on for 5-10 more years easily. Guessed '99 Brunello. I thought I detected "Brunello" molasses. This is just a great Barbaresco with slightly fuller texture.
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1999 E. Guigal Châteauneuf-du-Pape 89 Points
France, Rhône, Southern Rhône, Châteauneuf-du-Pape
Blind at Roy's: This was classic Grenache cooked red fruits, bubblegum wrapper/powdered sugar, lavender, some herbs and citrus peel. Classic, if not a bit too classic and normal. Not tons of character here with a soft structure. Guessed '98 CdP, but I think '98 would have been a bit more lively and structured.
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