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Wine Type
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Vintage
Name
Variety
Locale
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Date
Posted
Score
Helpful
Comments
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White - Sweet/Dessert
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2001 Château Suduiraut
Sauternes
Sémillon-Sauvignon Blanc Blend more
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Two bitter old guys drinking for smiles (Restaurant Tani in Gaienmae (Tokyo)): My second 100 point wine on CT so far. A brilliant wine that we could not find a single imperfection in. Two guys greedily finished a full btl with only two dishes: foie gras and cheese plate.
Becoming golden, but still not quite there.
Nose is so rich and attractive that my language doesn't cover the necessary ground. Grande! This is as good as a Sauternes nose gets. Like a fairy tale. Beautiful, sunny weather. Happiness... Botrytis, honey, white peach, dried apricots, a wide variety of flowers, wax etc and just completely unbelievably beautiful. The kind of outstanding poetry that moves you to tears.
In the mouth: the rich and perfectly balanced components hit me first. Acids, sugars and fruit. The wine never ends. The smallest sips burst in to fireworks displays of grande proportions.
This wine will continue to evolve over many years. 3 btls to go, next one in ~2025.
At amazing Restaurant Tani (Tokyo).
2001 Chateau Suduiraut (100p) var fullkomligt briljant! Fortfarande ung, men ett monster av attraktioner, rikedomar och balans. Två farbröder gulpade i sig hela flaskan till blygsam bit fois gras och liten ostbricka. Letade allt vad jag kunde efter någonting i detta vin som inte var helt perfekt... Fann inget. Farbröderna gick upp i brygga, ropade in kocken som efter en smutt också började dansa. Fullkomligt sanslöst vettlöst makalöst sinnessjukt underbart!
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Red
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2016 E. Pira & Figli (Chiara Boschis) Barolo Via Nuova
Nebbiolo more
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92p today with a huge upside a good bit into the future
Tastes expensive but doesn't live up to its hefty price tag. I do not understand why so many write on CT that it is accessible, wonderful and ready to plop. *pft*
This is a young wine that still lives on its primary fruit. This makes it rather uninteresting for our taste buds. That then the +++ tannins (the good type, not barbed wire model) gives the wine a dried short finish. This doesn't add to any reason to uncork this now.
However, the wine has lots of fine qualities that we could chisel out after about 3 hours of aeration:
Violets, raspberries, cherries, forest walk and good with rosehips. And a beautiful architecture, however heavily guarded today by the Tannic and Fruit Beasts!
92p idag med enorm uppsida en bra bit in i framtiden
Smakar dyrt men lever på inga vägar upp till prislappen. Förstår heller inte varför det skrivs på CT att den är tillgänglig, underbar och ready to plop. pft
Detta är ett ungt vin som fortfarande lever på sin primära frukt. Det gör den tämligen ointressant för våra smaklökar. Att sedan den rejäla strävheten (bra sort, inte modell taggtråd) ger vinet en uttorkad kort avslutning, gör inte det hela bättre.
Vinet har dock massor av fina kvaliteter som man kunde mejsla fram efter ca 3 tim luftning:
Violer, hallon, körsbär, skogspromenad och duktigt med nypon.
Next btl faaar away into the future.
Christmas Dinner at Trattoria Pecorella.
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Red
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2004 Bodega Numanthia Toro Numanthia
Tinta de Toro, Tempranillo more
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If Thor was a btl of wine.
Improbably muscular with no excess fat. Crazily magically wonderful wine that touches all my G-spots.
Blackish red without the slightest hint of maturation tones.
On the nose, we find everything beautiful that mineralized concentration brings with it. Liquorice, jam, all kinds of berries and fruits, tar, freshly laid asphalt, freshly rained-upon paving stones, tobacco, straw, unwashed tiger...
In the mouth, it's a total slap in the face! So much concentration, tannins, rocket fuel, the ferret Göran and wonders that go all the way. Fills the whole mouth, ticks all our boxes and is still but a baby...
The fact that you can achieve such wonderful vibes of Penfold's Grange Hermitage with Tempranillo is amazing. Made us smile secretly - as this is still reasonably affordable. Looking forward to more encounters of this magical wine. For this is, in fact, the cellar master's own favourite vintage. Will develop much further. Next btl ~2030-ish.
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Red
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2010 Antinori Tignanello
Toscana IGT
SuperTuscan Blend more
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Miniinferno #1 in Umeå (Hemmavid, Umeå): What a fantastic wine! Set me off spinning and humming happy songs.
Has all the components it needs in order to come around as a brilliant wine as it matures.
Too young, but WOW! Has all the cherry expressions that some CTers enjoy writing and repeating. It also has charcoaled barrels, well roasted coffee and ooomph. Elegance, power, concentration and happiness.
This must be one of the best Tignanellos ever made.
I'm very happy to count 6 btls in the cellar, and scheduling the 1st to be opened one or two years before 2020.
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Red
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2007 Domenico Clerico Barolo Pajana
Nebbiolo more
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Two bitter old gentlemen become gentle (Restaurant TANI, Tokyo): Upon opening.
Nose: Lavishly aromatic. Dark watermelon aromas and sporty male perfume towards Aqua di Gio. Decidedly fragrant and refined, however rather unusual from the wine POV. Wet cement and licorice as well.
Superbly balanced with M-body, laser-sharp +++ tannins, licorice galore and still very young. There are a lot of unrealized potentials just waiting to come out. Has enough umpa-umpa to develop for at least ten more years and live long after that.
After 5 hrs decant, the aromatics refined themselves towards dried leaves, some smoked meat and away with the perfume. Palate stayed tight (Som hos flickan från Gränna) throughout the evening and married all foods.
Two more btls to go, next one ~2025.
At overperforming Restaurant Tani.
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Red
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2015 Ridge Geyserville
Alexander Valley
Zinfandel Blend, Zinfandel more
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Upon plop:
A beautiful, dark, brooding elegant wine with a good bit of acidity, well-manicured tannins and superb balance. The composition is flawless in this youngling and much is to be expected in the future.
After a few hours:
Becoming more and more sour, sharp and grumpy.
This bugger needs time!
2 more btls to go, next one in 3-5 years' time.
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Red
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2006 Glaetzer Shiraz Amon-Ra Barossa Valley
more
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Amazing purity of red fruit, balance and intensity! A marvellous effort!
Nose is very young, huge, with the richness of Oz Syrah but with restrained licorice/anise seed elements. Rich (!!!) with red berries, tobacco, black tea and a thyme-like herbal quality. Awesome!
In the mouth this is YOUNG! However young it is, this is definitely a wine with everything accounted for, in place and with utter balance. Tannins M+, acids M++, M+ body and quite dramatic. Intense and other-worldly and not an old-school Aussie-extracted hefty gal. The rich aroma prophile fits the wine perfectly (as we knew the label bf tasting: pls don't take our word for it) and we enjoyed it with all dishes except the fois gras, where instead '89 Suduiraut saved the day. Long, lingering, hiding the EtOH well, carrying its immaturity with grace.
I prefer the 2005, but that's more personal taste than quality.
Wife: 97p.
At stunning ** L'Effervescence (Tokyo).
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Red
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2015 Fontanafredda Barolo
Nebbiolo more
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Beautifully crafted Barolo in the "budget" segment. I think the World's fruitfuckers misunderstand this wine. Giving it ab bad rap. It isn't a great Barolo, but in a severely overpriced district, this is really banging your buck in the most pleasurable of ways. If you have matured to enjoy the nervy, openly structured, transparent and non-voluminous wines that ooze with food-marriages...
Structurally old fashioned (tannins are lower but still grippy) with amazing acids and aimed at medium longevity. The cork is a long "smulkork" that will outlast the "natural" ones. Ambitious :)
Roses and ample cherries dominte this youngling. Needs at least another five before early maturity. Will get more!
Don't believe the unhype!
...even if wifey continues to give Nebbiolo wines the frown...
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Red
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2005 Château de Beaucastel Châteauneuf-du-Pape
Red Rhone Blend more
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Just had to try a btl again after late summer's face plant.
Maybe this wine was just never intended for early drinking? Having enjoyed this megamix of grapes throughout my wine days, I conclude this is at least 15 yrs from happiness. Unless it's more "modern" and ... then I have no clue.
Small Brett upon opening, decanted: it filled the whole wine cellar with its beautiful aromas of red fruits, small leather and beautiful Brett.
After 5 hrs, nose had closed down, but on the palate, it showed off in an ... ahum ... ok+ way. Nothing extravagant, but much better than the late Summer's btl of this year. Red fruits, distinct physionomy and rather lame tannins, if you ask me...
With the food, though, it really started to sing hymns! Sporting fabulous concentration and a distinct transparency that is not showing much today, other than some muddy minerality, but obviously keeping the window open for fantastic future pleasures. The intensity derived from the combo of its youth and concentration have the potential to be mind-bending, but are today unrelieved and tightly enclosed.
Maybe my notions stem from WANTING this expensive wine to deliver? I will be patient and report back some 6-8 years later on the next btl.
Will stash and hide these for a much later date of pleasures. 3 btls to go. Wish they had the decency and riches to invest in screw corks...
Had with Wagyu, obento, fried chicken, greens with sesame sauce etc. Also with a Rhinegau Spätlese of the same vintage. Followed by a lighter, young Red Languedoc. Fabulous Saturday Eve :-)
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Red
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2008 Fattoria Galardi Terra di Lavoro
Roccamonfina IGT
Aglianico more
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Boys out fine dining and fine drinking (Restaurant Tani in Gaienmae (Tokyo)): An absolute bonker!
Super concentrated (no sediment), mega young, not at all integrated with raw wood attacking your senses like a a hairy medieval scotsman with a club...
But the grace within is like a well brought up princess. Amazing and astonishing! Spicy, fruity, multi-layered and grande in a way that Aglianico rarely is. This is soooo refined you'd need a microscope to work your way around its intricate details. Apart from young and unintegrated, this is a fabulous wine of sorts.
Just relax, remain patient and watch it grow through the TN's of all the early drinkers.
This wine really deserves its credits. The cousins behind it are worthy of all the praise. Yay! What a feat! This is a must-visit. And a must buy.
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Red
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2008 d'Arenberg Shiraz The Dead Arm
McLaren Vale
more
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World Cup Football BBQ wine dinner (Zorg's place, Umeå, Sweden): Rich, juicy, alcoholic, high-strung, turbo-concentrated Shiraz with a superbly earthy minerality and a long-dong dingalong finish.
For keeping.
This will turn out GREAT!
(meaning, it will turn out even greater than today's performance.)
Next btl (of two) in ~2019.
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Red
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2000 Château Lagrange (St. Julien)
Red Bordeaux Blend more
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Easily the best of the more modern Lagrange, counting from 1990 to 2011, albeit I haven’t yet enjoyed neither the 2003 nor the 2006.
In short:
This is a wine of high precision of the fruit, good tannins in the early stages of maturity. A good range of Bdx earth, brett, beautiful piercing red fruit, perfect acids with enticing length and complexity. Superbly energized and intense in a classic Bdx style. St Julien in a nutshell. Wife enjoyed :-)
Will last long.
At brilliant PRIMO (Kannai, Yokohama)
If you prefer gobs of young fruit, than drink other things.
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Red
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2004 C.V.N.E. (Compañía Vinícola del Norte de España) Rioja Imperial Gran Reserva
Tempranillo Blend, Tempranillo more
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An evening for two very lucky gentlemen (Restaurant Tani in Gaienmae (Tokyo)): Very, very young with purple fruit, tightly shut windows and a FANTASTIC future ahead!
Medium bodied, M++ acids, M+ tannin, refinement and an aroma spectrum and constitution that I (up until now) had reserved for Carignane... Wow! Brittle, yet firm. Acids carrying the dignity of the warm climate. Red and purple fruits in intense excitement... Soft herbs and utter intensity of fruit.
Spices, refined oak treatment and pure fruit that has still to produce sumi-ink, dill, lingonberry jam and cold butter. Very easy to love today, but will only become better.
Has a colour that has clearly taken a step away from traditional Rioja of yore and is looking for a future that still doesn't violate CT-nerds' yerning for terroir etc. If only Beaujolais could be made to taste like this, then, their district's economic problems would be solved :-)
This wine's peak will arrive later, our guess is around 2020.
This wine is a worthy winner of Winespectator's Award.
At fabulous Restaurant Tani, outdoing themselves as always, including Japanese bear meat for the main dish tonight. Yowza!
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Red
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2010 Château Grand-Puy-Lacoste
Pauillac
Red Bordeaux Blend more
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Köpte två lådor ep då det begav sig. Sen kom hårda tider och jag sålde dem. Är inte bitter, inte min sort. Är mest bara glad åt att henningen som köpte dem gjorde en bra affär och har att njuta av. Zattingens vilken underbar dekokt detta är. En flaska auktionsfynd tack vare felstavning.
Skriker Pauillac med cederträ, svarta vinbär, rikedom, vackra fat, snygg combo av olivspad och brett… I munnen kör detta på från start till en lååång finish som ett monster.
Fabulöst entry!
Frukt, babyfett galore, örter, cederträ och svarta vinbär. Skolboken personifierad! Briljanta syror!
Mid palate!
Allt bara sköljer på. Rikt, vackert, raffinerat, tanninerna börjar strama till ekipaget. Syrorna skriker PAAAARTY! Babyfettet hänger kvar.
Aftermath!
Lång, fin, raffinerad avslutning som är galet ung. Skäms över ploppet, men inser vitsen av att leta fram fler av detta. Slår sönder de allra föesta Mouton, Lafite och Latour jag förtärt genom åren. Detta klår förmodligen över 90% av Latour's årgångar.
If you see it, buy it!!!
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Red
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2003 Château Léoville Barton
St. Julien
Red Bordeaux Blend more
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Wine Koop in Umeå flexing early muscles (Hemmavid (Umeå, North of Sweden)): This is a prodigious wine of proportions. A wine that will blossom and bloom like a fireworks display over the years. Has all the marks of a GREAT young Bordeaux: earth, power, tannin, long-life-ahead, acids, red fruit, dark fruit... Jaw dropping.
Insanely attractive and rewarding, but still very young and without having unleashed any of its yet subterrainean potential.
Wife: 92p
3 btls to go, next one around 2025.
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Red
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2006 d'Arenberg Shiraz The Dead Arm
McLaren Vale
more
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Here we go again, this time celebrating Sweden Day with a sprinkle of Australian flair.
It's striking how the palate is dominated by Sicilian blood oranges... Rich, intense, elegant, fruit driven, young, promising... And Dill...
Digging under the hood we drag out fine anise seeds, some small rubber, M++ acids, M+ tannin and a mineral character best described as very dry, crumbling, clay soil. Small bitter tinge crown the long finish.
Aaah! What a wine to write home about, but also a wine that will favor the keepers. Even if I can't say whether I'd go for a pure Oz wine or mistake it for a neo-Rioja. The dill really is a game changer here, meaning Oz is growing in its strength as a producer of extreme quality wines. Me like!
On second thought: this is a Shiraz that embodies everything that modern Tempranillio wants to become (at at least twice the price).
Three more, looking forward to the next one in ~2017, when we expect to experience early maturity. IF you care what others write, just forget about this wine until after 2020.
(Greatly preferred over today's 2000 Sandrone Le Vigne.)
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Red
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2001 La Rioja Alta Rioja Gran Reserva 904
Tempranillo Blend, Tempranillo more
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It's a complete waste of time, money and good wine to drink this before 2020, unless, of course, you prefer stridently acidic young Rioja to rich, layered and mega interesting mature Rioja.
Red wine.
Nose is a classic cut, boisterous young Rioja with a fair share of oak and restrained herbal notes dominated by dill.
In the mouth it is first and foremost elegant with oomph, oak and M+++ acids making the mid-palate seem hollow. M+ tannin gives this well shaped leopard its strong posture. Rich, already a little complex, with TREMENDOUS upside to be expected from keeping.
92 for now, 95+ in the making. (wife prefers other styles of wine.)
Killed by many of tonight's plates (sweet sauces) and the stronger cheeses on the cheese plate. A sensitive wine.
We do understand why some palates perceive this wine as poor and recommend either training on a lot of Riojas (there is a reason why they're famous, even if you don't get it at first) or acknowledge your taste as prefering other styles.
Two btls to go: '25 and possibly '35.
At fantastic Restaurant Tani in Gaienmae (Tokyo).
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Red
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2012 Le Macchiole Paleo Rosso
Toscana IGT
Cabernet Franc more
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Goddamn!
Precision, umpa-umpa, deliniation, intensity, perfect balance, perfection, ultermost amazing juice!
Will probably reach 100.
This is the s**t as far as great winemaking goes.
Utterly attractive, delicious, complex, long, beautiful!!!
One btl for much later.
…and this one btl will get a case full of friends.
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Red
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2015 Ridge Geyserville
Alexander Valley
Zinfandel Blend, Zinfandel more
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Excellent wine!
Still brimming with baby fat.
Acidity in the lower end of the spectrum and tiny tannins.
Extremely delicious 😋
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Red
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2007 Marchesi de' Frescobaldi Chianti Rùfina Nipozzano Riserva
Sangiovese Blend, Sangiovese more
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This is a superbly delicious Chianti with a great tannic structure, pristine acidic backbone and still rather young.
At 11 yrs old, this is still a rascal. Purity, precision and ... cherries. Complex, interesting and well balanced. Slightly short, with early signs of maturity and the smallest whiff of farm land.
From a deliciousness pov, this clocks in on my palate at 100 points. So delicious I could just keep gulping this juice.
W/wife.
At Komakine, Yokohama's most ambitious Italian food.
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Red
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2005 Château Lagrange (St. Julien)
Red Bordeaux Blend more
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5dan FAIL dinner: aiming at November! (Bisi-Basi, Yokohama): This is an amazing Bdx. Favourite btl of tonight and especially enjoyed by Suda sensei. Open for business after 3 hrs decant. Not at all as tight as the previous btl. However, we'd guess that ~2020 is the start of their plateau, according to our taste.
...but it's darn good as is!
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White - Sweet/Dessert
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2009 Château Rieussec
Sauternes
Sémillon-Sauvignon Blanc Blend more
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A March Saturday family dinner (Swedish apartment): Mjuffingly splendid wine!!! Has remarkable concentration, mega balance and an absolutely astounding dollop of botrytis. This beauty will mature and develop spectacular tricks that I want to live, see and participate in. Mature Sauternes is the corner stone of my hedonistic life and think of drinking great potential before its realization as an unnecessary sin. Some people will always prefer string cheese to Pont l'Eveque. I prefer my cheeses shrivelled and hairy, with many fantastic aromas that only deveop with time...
Will keep my remaining 5 btls until well after 2020.
Snuck out one small glass for the next day:
Yahoo! The incredibly intense botrytis character claimed my whole living room. So many layers and tastes, will definitely merit those of us who manage to keep them for 10+ years. (With ME and Hjalle, Hemmavid)
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Red
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2012 Le Macchiole Paleo Rosso
Toscana IGT
Cabernet Franc more
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I wanted to keep my next bottle for 10 years, but managed barely a month…
Beautifully pure, intense, well-built and polished to a degree I don't think I have ever come across. Too beautiful.
Only things I don't understand:
- Blinded, how to recognize this as a CF?
- When will it be at the top of its game?
2 btls to go and 10 years is the trampoline I'm looking at. But, trend says they're both gone before summer strikes the Northern hemisphere…
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Red
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2012 Tenuta delle Terre Nere Etna Rosso
Etna DOC
Nerello Blend, Nerello Mascalese more
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Overly perfumed, overly acidic and underly performance.
This is not at all costly, but it is poor. Wife dismissed it as a "grape-tainted-wine". I laughed, and agreed. Even if I drank it all, rather than pouring it down the drain. I mean, at the end of the day, after all, I'm not a barbarian :-)
But overly cherry aromas on a thin, overly acidic expression in a wine that cost almost nothing, was raised to the skies by some... At any rate, it performed no great show tonight. Tar and feathers 'R Us :-)
Minerality, check
Acidity, overcheck
Tannins, mnjae , some. . . check
Length, nope.
Intensity, uhu, hardly, but . . . check
Concentration, really? . . . nope *WATERY*
Our taste: ferk no!
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Red
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2012 La Rioja Alta Rioja Viña Ardanza Reserva
Tempranillo Blend, Tempranillo more
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This is an amazing Rioja.
Extremely typical.
Fabulously delicious, rich, balanced, complex with a beautiful backbone today. Will bloom over many years. Lovely!
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