Intense florals with purple inky fruits, licorice and kirsh dominating both the bouquet and palate. Slightly imbalanced and disjointed for me with overtly high and piercing acidity. I am not sure if this was a flawed bottle although it did not seem so.
Italy, Veneto, Valpolicella, Amarone della Valpolicella
Nose kept changing throughout the night. What first started out prunes, licorice, sage and pronounced oak evolved into dark berry fruit, menthol, chocolate and raisins. Finish pretty tannic with good acidity.
This did not quite scream out as a style that I liked and when unveiled it was clear. I am unfortunately not the biggest fan of Amarones.
France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Morey St. Denis 1er Cru
My favourite nose for the evening. Lovely florals on the bouquet with roses, tar and prunes shining through and dominating the palate. Tannins starting to integrate well and good acidity but this did not quite last the night - perhaps the mistake was decanting this.
What a baby this was! Decanted for 2 hours by the time we had this. Chocolate, asian spices, rose petals, manuka honey and dark cherries. This had balance and poise amidst gobsmacking power. Highly structured yet restraint - I thought this to be a powerful right bank from a great vintage like 05 or 10 where the underlying is probably a great wine but not accessible yet.
France, Bordeaux, Libournais, St. Émilion Grand Cru
Big Reds Night #3
Dark berry fruit, black plums, scorched earth and ash. Palate is certainly big and rich with some slight sweetness amidst the softening tannins. Quite balanced and typical for the vintage.
France, Bordeaux, Libournais, St. Émilion Grand Cru
Dark red fruit - think maraschino cherries, dark plums, sous bois and iron showing very opulently on the bouquet. Palate incredibly harmonious showing nicely integrated silky tannins, good structure and balance. Still plenty alive with good tension and energy. Loved this!
France, Bordeaux, Libournais, St. Émilion Grand Cru
I don't understand the hype and ratings for this wine. I've had this twice now in the year and perhaps this is in an awkward phase now and just needs to be forgotten for another 20 years.
A friend opened this at the turn of the year and it needed a 6 hour decant to even show decently so this time I went with a 5 hour decant with periodic sips in between.
Bouquet slightly velvety with glimpses of dark red berries but on the palate this never felt ready - completely stubborn and austere with fruits appearing to dry out amidst harsh tannins.
France, Bordeaux, Libournais, St. Émilion Grand Cru
Ripe red berries and stone fruit (plums and apricots) dominates the bouquet. After a 3 hour slow decant in voss this was slightly austere but got much better at the 5 hour mark. Good balance and structure on the palate with sweet red fruit coming through hot and fast. Finish slightly shorter than expected.
More experienced tastes of Tertre Roteboeuf commented that this was quite unlike Tertre's style - perhaps this bottle was not showing as expected but I quite liked it.
Decanted for nearly 12 hours before deemed ready to drink. This screamed power, power and power. Dark fruit, pencil and graphite. Palate incredibly youthful but showing amazing balance and structure.
Do yourself a favour and put this down to sleep for another 15 years please! I am sure it would be magic then.
2002 Tenuta dell'Ornellaia Bolgheri Superiore Ornellaia 91 Points
Italy, Tuscany, Bolgheri, Bolgheri Superiore
Intense florals with purple inky fruits, licorice and kirsh dominating both the bouquet and palate. Slightly imbalanced and disjointed for me with overtly high and piercing acidity. I am not sure if this was a flawed bottle although it did not seem so.
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2007 Romano Dal Forno Amarone della Valpolicella Vigneto di Monte Lodoletta 90 Points
Italy, Veneto, Valpolicella, Amarone della Valpolicella
Nose kept changing throughout the night. What first started out prunes, licorice, sage and pronounced oak evolved into dark berry fruit, menthol, chocolate and raisins. Finish pretty tannic with good acidity.
This did not quite scream out as a style that I liked and when unveiled it was clear. I am unfortunately not the biggest fan of Amarones.
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2008 Domaine Ponsot Morey St. Denis 1er Cru Cuvée des Alouettes 92 Points
France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Morey St. Denis 1er Cru
My favourite nose for the evening. Lovely florals on the bouquet with roses, tar and prunes shining through and dominating the palate. Tannins starting to integrate well and good acidity but this did not quite last the night - perhaps the mistake was decanting this.
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2009 Bodegas Vega-Sicilia Ribera del Duero Único 94 Points
Spain, Castilla y León, Ribera del Duero
What a baby this was! Decanted for 2 hours by the time we had this.
Chocolate, asian spices, rose petals, manuka honey and dark cherries. This had balance and poise amidst gobsmacking power. Highly structured yet restraint - I thought this to be a powerful right bank from a great vintage like 05 or 10 where the underlying is probably a great wine but not accessible yet.
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2008 Château Pavie 92 Points
France, Bordeaux, Libournais, St. Émilion Grand Cru
Big Reds Night #3
Dark berry fruit, black plums, scorched earth and ash. Palate is certainly big and rich with some slight sweetness amidst the softening tannins. Quite balanced and typical for the vintage.
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1999 Château Pavie 95 Points
France, Bordeaux, Libournais, St. Émilion Grand Cru
Dark red fruit - think maraschino cherries, dark plums, sous bois and iron showing very opulently on the bouquet. Palate incredibly harmonious showing nicely integrated silky tannins, good structure and balance. Still plenty alive with good tension and energy. Loved this!
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2005 Château Troplong Mondot 88 Points
France, Bordeaux, Libournais, St. Émilion Grand Cru
I don't understand the hype and ratings for this wine. I've had this twice now in the year and perhaps this is in an awkward phase now and just needs to be forgotten for another 20 years.
A friend opened this at the turn of the year and it needed a 6 hour decant to even show decently so this time I went with a 5 hour decant with periodic sips in between.
Bouquet slightly velvety with glimpses of dark red berries but on the palate this never felt ready - completely stubborn and austere with fruits appearing to dry out amidst harsh tannins.
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2000 Tertre Rôteboeuf 93 Points
France, Bordeaux, Libournais, St. Émilion Grand Cru
Ripe red berries and stone fruit (plums and apricots) dominates the bouquet. After a 3 hour slow decant in voss this was slightly austere but got much better at the 5 hour mark. Good balance and structure on the palate with sweet red fruit coming through hot and fast. Finish slightly shorter than expected.
More experienced tastes of Tertre Roteboeuf commented that this was quite unlike Tertre's style - perhaps this bottle was not showing as expected but I quite liked it.
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2010 Château Pontet-Canet 93 Points
France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Pauillac
Decanted for nearly 12 hours before deemed ready to drink. This screamed power, power and power. Dark fruit, pencil and graphite. Palate incredibly youthful but showing amazing balance and structure.
Do yourself a favour and put this down to sleep for another 15 years please! I am sure it would be magic then.
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