This was super-seductive when it came out and nothing like the conventional wisdom that has Colares as very structured, strict wines. It's not as seductive now but much closer to the CW. The fruit is pale, red-complexioned, with a dusty veneer like taking a mouthful of friable red clay. The tannins start out clenched and grippy but relax themselves with some time. Much of the intrigue right now is in the aromatics, which are totally outside the fruit (or wine) realm and aren't even earthy but evoking more than anything else an array of enticing savory and spicy scents you might catch wafting from a busy kitchen.
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Good job me, in following my own advice and forgetting about this for years. I'm going to assume that my previous bottle was flawed because this is really nice. Yofog says nebbiolo and I suppose I could see that particularly alto-piedmonte. I'd point more towards a mild-year Beaune 1er, though with quite some additional sneaky fine dolcetto-esque tannin that's still quite grippy.
Raspberry, cherry pipe tobacco, seaspray on the nose. Moderate/high acid is quite refreshing and perfectly balances that aforementioned tannin, leading to a finish of quince, maybe (to be stereotypical) linguisa, perhaps some beach pine. Long and moreish with just a touch of funk. This is very good.
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First of 7 bottles, 500 ml! First time tasting Colares in about 30 years... This took me right back to the bottles from the mid-sixties that we enjoyed back then. Decanted two hours prior to serving as I familiar with the tannin structure of these Ramisco wines. Inky, deep, brooding wine loaded with dark fruit, earthy and spicy aromas. Combined impressive structure with elegance and class. This wine is clearly on the wilder side with its raw power. Tasted next to an aged Cote Rotie which made for fascinating comparisons. This Colares will easily go another 10-15+ years
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Colares and Carcavelos tasting: After all the younger vintages, this seemed very classic and even vinuous. Ripe cherries, comparatively rich nose, juicy black chokeberry. High accidity, even pungent, dry but round finish. I wonder if it has all the characteristics of Colares and could be picked as such in a blind tasting.
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Absurdly delicious wine, Nebbiolo-like in profile but with a deep gravelly and slightly saline character all its own; there's also a faint smokiness that recalls the more elegant wines of the Northern Rhone. Overall, it's akin to some wines from Etna that I have had in the cool character of the fruit, balance of tannins and acid, and a slight orange peel note that colors the overall flavor impression. Clear, fresh, compelling, this beautiful wine has it all. Absolutely stunning.
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I want to draw comparison to another wine I know better, since I've never had any colares at all before...it's a little nebbiolo-like in its light-bodied unexpectedly tannic, high-toned character; a little like old-school high-cabernet St. Julien with it's iron and coffee profile. It's certainly a beautiful, subtle wine of hidden power that at 10 years is still only hinting at what's to come. Revisit in another 10.
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I'm wondering if I had a flawed bottle. There was some slight seepage, which is unusual for a wine that's only 8 years old. While there were no off flavors, there was perhaps a slight hint of oxidization, but as I've never had this before, I don't know if this is typical. Flavors, for me, fell into the range of rioja, with orange zest being perhaps the most prominent. Quite light, austere even, perhaps even simply unremarkable. Is this just a factor of time? IE does it need more of it? Compared to, say, a young Gouges LSG (or even a middle age Gouges in certain vintages), wherein you must work thru the austerity but are rewarded with kaleidoscopic flavor... this presented none of that with air, swirling and slurping. A disappointment, given how hyped these were. Will perhaps forget about my other bottle for five years and try it at that time.
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Colares @ Aldea (NYC): Similar to my previous note, except with the luxury of tasting this with bottlings over 80 years old, it had some citrus, orange zest character to it. A wine for rock-heads, with a high-toned, gravelly palate. So much freshness and lift here. Needs time; based on the older wines tasted this night.... LOTS of time.
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One of these days I'll get around to writing a proper review of this. Exceptional balance and vibrancy; it has both finesse and structure. The way the flavors shift and evolve is pure magic. After four hours in the decanter the nose makes me giddy. Heaven.
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Various Wines @ Salil's: Lovely, old-school wine here. This is not so much about the fruit than the secondary flavors of leather, earth, coffee and iron. Light bodied, but still makes a statement. Zippy acids on the grippy finish.
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Dazzlingly complex from the pop of the cork, with so much going on it practically seemed to have a whole extra layer of exotic flavors, the wine equivalent of going from mono to stereo. For the first few sips all you can do is marvel at all the detail, but with some air it comes together more seamlessly (and fleshes out its frame), and then the main appeal is how rounded and well-composed it is. The tannins are lacy in an almost Burgundian fashion and the fruit material picks up an inner density and saturating grip that seemed to come out of nowhere. It's tough to describe the actual taste; it has attributes of a traditional Rioja or even something like a Biondi-Santi Brunello but what I find so compelling about this more than its flavor is its physical presence, which just oozes class, a total palate-pamperer of a wine.
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12/9/2023 - Keith Levenberg Likes this wine:
This was super-seductive when it came out and nothing like the conventional wisdom that has Colares as very structured, strict wines. It's not as seductive now but much closer to the CW. The fruit is pale, red-complexioned, with a dusty veneer like taking a mouthful of friable red clay. The tannins start out clenched and grippy but relax themselves with some time. Much of the intrigue right now is in the aromatics, which are totally outside the fruit (or wine) realm and aren't even earthy but evoking more than anything else an array of enticing savory and spicy scents you might catch wafting from a busy kitchen.
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11/6/2021 - gbanks wrote:
Good job me, in following my own advice and forgetting about this for years. I'm going to assume that my previous bottle was flawed because this is really nice. Yofog says nebbiolo and I suppose I could see that particularly alto-piedmonte. I'd point more towards a mild-year Beaune 1er, though with quite some additional sneaky fine dolcetto-esque tannin that's still quite grippy.
Raspberry, cherry pipe tobacco, seaspray on the nose. Moderate/high acid is quite refreshing and perfectly balances that aforementioned tannin, leading to a finish of quince, maybe (to be stereotypical) linguisa, perhaps some beach pine. Long and moreish with just a touch of funk. This is very good.
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4/17/2021 - vagrantone Likes this wine: 93 Points
First of 7 bottles, 500 ml!
First time tasting Colares in about 30 years...
This took me right back to the bottles from the mid-sixties that we enjoyed back then.
Decanted two hours prior to serving as I familiar with the tannin structure of these Ramisco wines.
Inky, deep, brooding wine loaded with dark fruit, earthy and spicy aromas. Combined impressive structure with elegance and class.
This wine is clearly on the wilder side with its raw power. Tasted next to an aged Cote Rotie which made for fascinating comparisons.
This Colares will easily go another 10-15+ years
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1/7/2015 - AV2012 wrote: 87 Points
Colares and Carcavelos tasting: After all the younger vintages, this seemed very classic and even vinuous. Ripe cherries, comparatively rich nose, juicy black chokeberry. High accidity, even pungent, dry but round finish. I wonder if it has all the characteristics of Colares and could be picked as such in a blind tasting.
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3/15/2014 - Chomsky wrote:
Absurdly delicious wine, Nebbiolo-like in profile but with a deep gravelly and slightly saline character all its own; there's also a faint smokiness that recalls the more elegant wines of the Northern Rhone. Overall, it's akin to some wines from Etna that I have had in the cool character of the fruit, balance of tannins and acid, and a slight orange peel note that colors the overall flavor impression. Clear, fresh, compelling, this beautiful wine has it all. Absolutely stunning.
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2/25/2014 - yofog wrote: 94 Points
I want to draw comparison to another wine I know better, since I've never had any colares at all before...it's a little nebbiolo-like in its light-bodied unexpectedly tannic, high-toned character; a little like old-school high-cabernet St. Julien with it's iron and coffee profile. It's certainly a beautiful, subtle wine of hidden power that at 10 years is still only hinting at what's to come. Revisit in another 10.
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1/22/2014 - gbanks wrote: 86 Points
I'm wondering if I had a flawed bottle. There was some slight seepage, which is unusual for a wine that's only 8 years old. While there were no off flavors, there was perhaps a slight hint of oxidization, but as I've never had this before, I don't know if this is typical. Flavors, for me, fell into the range of rioja, with orange zest being perhaps the most prominent. Quite light, austere even, perhaps even simply unremarkable. Is this just a factor of time? IE does it need more of it? Compared to, say, a young Gouges LSG (or even a middle age Gouges in certain vintages), wherein you must work thru the austerity but are rewarded with kaleidoscopic flavor... this presented none of that with air, swirling and slurping. A disappointment, given how hyped these were. Will perhaps forget about my other bottle for five years and try it at that time.
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12/18/2013 - mdefreitas wrote: 92 Points
Colares @ Aldea (NYC): Similar to my previous note, except with the luxury of tasting this with bottlings over 80 years old, it had some citrus, orange zest character to it. A wine for rock-heads, with a high-toned, gravelly palate. So much freshness and lift here. Needs time; based on the older wines tasted this night.... LOTS of time.
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12/6/2013 - ND05 Likes this wine:
One of these days I'll get around to writing a proper review of this. Exceptional balance and vibrancy; it has both finesse and structure. The way the flavors shift and evolve is pure magic. After four hours in the decanter the nose makes me giddy. Heaven.
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11/22/2013 - mdefreitas wrote: 92 Points
Various Wines @ Salil's: Lovely, old-school wine here. This is not so much about the fruit than the secondary flavors of leather, earth, coffee and iron. Light bodied, but still makes a statement. Zippy acids on the grippy finish.
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10/29/2013 - Keith Levenberg Likes this wine: 97 Points
Dazzlingly complex from the pop of the cork, with so much going on it practically seemed to have a whole extra layer of exotic flavors, the wine equivalent of going from mono to stereo. For the first few sips all you can do is marvel at all the detail, but with some air it comes together more seamlessly (and fleshes out its frame), and then the main appeal is how rounded and well-composed it is. The tannins are lacy in an almost Burgundian fashion and the fruit material picks up an inner density and saturating grip that seemed to come out of nowhere. It's tough to describe the actual taste; it has attributes of a traditional Rioja or even something like a Biondi-Santi Brunello but what I find so compelling about this more than its flavor is its physical presence, which just oozes class, a total palate-pamperer of a wine.
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