July 11, 2023 - La fecha aproximada de la vendimia es 1969/1970. Caoba con ribete abierto. Nariz con terciarios, matices especiados, cueros, algo de fruta licorosa. Algo cansado en boca, mantiene cierta frescura, bien de acidez, tanino delicado, suaves amargos y bastante longitud.
January 14, 2023 - Floral and earthy with robust cross-section of fully mature red fruits. Air was kind to this wine as it expanded over the first 30 minutes open, and even darkened. It started getting shorter once open an hour+, but quite enticing for the entire evening.
July 24, 2021 - Second bottle from the batch. Again 70s probably. This is actually quite drinkable. Open in decanter for 6 hrs. Ah-so opener, cork obviously destroyed. Excellent acidity and full tertiary gamut of mushrooms, forest flor etc. with a good ribeye and avocado salad. American evening…
July 11, 2021 - I currently am slightly coming off the back of a cold so while my taste is fine, my nose is under par, thus no score. Lovely crystalline pomegranate and strawberry. Red cherry. Black pepper. Dried strawberry. Amazing balance and structure, balanced tannin and acidity. Unbelievable mouthfeel.
July 9, 2021 - Stood up for a week. Two hour slow oxidation. Bottom neck with a cork that crumbled and took a monumental effort to remove. Believed to be from the mid to late 1970s. Medium garnet fading to a slightly orange outer edge. Damp herbs, campfire smoke, red plum skin, red cherry, and coffee are just some of the nuances that reveal themselves on the nose. An impressive palate that builds in intensity and remains harmonious throughout. Primarily tertiary with dried vintage leather, scorched earth, and fading red berries.
January 7, 2021 - Litigators' Wine Dinner (East Treasure, Clarke Quay, Singapore): Bottled in 1979. This was slightly tired, but still charming. The nose had more than its fair share of balsamic and Madeira notes, but also a nice blush of dried cherries and berries, earth and cigarette smoke, and beyond that a lovely waft of perfumy florals. Funk aside, this was really nice. The palate was more alive than the nose let on, with fresh acidity and a rustle of silky tannins running through clear, pure notes of dried strawberries and cherries, with a whiff of cigarette spice and some wilting florals, all somewhat shadowed by a little layer of earth, meaty funk into a nice long finish. Pretty nice, especially when paired beautifully with a herbal crocodile meat soup, but with its peak drinking window probably a few years behind it.
November 7, 2020 - Election Celebration Continues (The Fisters - Chicago IL): Musty start, but that quickly dissipated. More mature red cherry than earth, but both in good combination with savory spice and braised meat. Very good balance and length. Very elegant, this is probably 50 yo, and should well for decades to come.
October 7, 2020 - No clue what year this is from. Old. Low shoulder. Moss on the nose. Actually pretty fresh. Very light. Good acidity and hints of fruit.
Sort of a DRINK really, compared to today’s riojas.
Science experiment.
October 1, 2020 - The front label had deteriorated and fallen off, so no idea about the age of the wine, but probably based on some 1970's vintage.
Very old, murky and rather cloudy brick-orange color. Old, tertiary and somewhat oxidative with pungent and slightly funky aromas of beef jerky, some oxidative nutty tones, a little bit of smoke, light notes of bretty leather, an aldehydic hint of sliced green apples and a touch of earth. The wine is firm, old and very tertiary on the palate with a medium body and dry flavors of salty soy sauce, some beef jerky, light notes of salami, a little bit of dried raspberry, oxidative hints of smoke and nuttiness and a touch of leathery funk. The mouthfeel has thinned out over the years, but the structure still remains pretty lean with the moderately high acidity and still slightly grippy medium tannins. The finish is dry, slightly tannic and very long with tertiary flavors of sanguine meat, dried cranberries, some old dry leather, a little bit of oxidative nuttiness, light smoky tones, a salty hint of soy sauce and a touch of aldehydic greenness.
A still somewhat drinkable, but not particularly interesting bottle of Viña Tondonia 6º Año that is already past its peak. The overall feel is so tertiary that it is getting rather hard to assess how the wine has been in its youth. Probably very nice, but doesn't really give much consolation at this point.
August 31, 2019 - The label mentions G.G. 12 79, so 1973 the base vintage probably. Top / upper shoulder level. Mature appearance, correct for producer and age. Classic old Rioja profile, wonderfully fresh and balanced, delicately balsamic, transparent, slightly nutty, tertiary but fresh, with gentle tannins, beautifully balanced, slightly savoury wood, precise finish with good length.