wow wine. decanted for 3 hrs before dinner and still going strong at hour 7. Wine is at a great place. Fantastic mature qualities with all the typical mushroom and earthy components you expect. The tannins were mostly integrated but still some structure. This also had very pure sweet red and blue fruits that really pushed this wine from good to great. The acidity was a touch low, but still worked very well with prime rib. No rush to drink this, but no real reason to wait. I would be interested to see what this eventually tastes like at in 2040, but I'm unlikely to wait.
This had a TON of sediment so I recommend decanting through a screen, stand up a few days ahead of time, or both.
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Drinking beautifully now at 20 years of age. Opened over the course of 2 hours the decanter, blossoming from reduced, high-quality balsamic vinegar into evolved dried fruits and savory aged leather with elegant, tannins nicely softened with time.
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As with all older bottles of Paolo Bea, this needs considerable air before it shows well. I almost gave up on the bottle, but two hours later it’s firing on all cylinders. Sweet brambley fruit and baking spices. In the mouth, the wine has achieved near-perfect balance of fruit, acid, and tannin. I’m freaking out, man. I’m sure it can age longer, but why bother? This is great now. Bottle #281.
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Wine was drinking very well - typically dense nose of ripe plums, a hint of tar and pips. Palate had abundant ripe tannins that were wonderfully fresh and grippy, fruit was sweet (in the best way) with both fresh and baked plum, blackberry and Sagrantino 'grapeyness'. Wine was nicely evolved but will continue to hold steady for another decade or more. drink or hold
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Birthday dinner at Dong Khahn.Very good bottle and a good example of Paolo Bea Sagrantino. Expressive fruit, still significant tannin but drinking well, some VA but not a deal breaker. a bit left in the bottle was unchanged two days later.
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It smells like cherry, vanilla and strawberry. The wine finishes long. It tastes like blackberry. The wine looks brick coloured. The wine has smooth texture.
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Luscious bottle. Nose is rich of dried cherry and carmelizing sugar and bit of earth. Palate is unctuous, chewy, glycerine, with dark berries and a bit of mushroom. Acidity is smooth and slowly dominates late, then definitive tannins come in and extend the finish far out. Though I decided to drink by this year, it really feels like it could easily go on for another year or two with no sense of going downhill. Bea, as usual, does wonders.
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Peach Farm on my birthday. A good bottle! Only a little bit lifted, just enough to be a positive. Plenty of Sagrantino fruit more grown up than adolescent boistrous.Plenty of tannin left but handled well by food (such as roast duck, pork in majic (maple) sauce).
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This is in a great place. Stood it up for a few weeks and then double decanted a couple of hours before service. It opened a little funky, but by dinner time it was clean, showing some age with the tell tale deep griotte
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Pop and pour from 3L. Very dense, burnt-seeming nose, with cinnamon and paprika and some black cherryish fruit. Angular and tannic. Acidic, with a hint of the tropical character of the 2004, but much more reticent. Kind of a harsh finish. Might be the format or the lack of aeration, but this glass wasn't ready.
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Poured Atari Xmas party, big and meaty, constantly changing in the air. Big fruit with spice, menthol, coffee, and all kinds of stuff. Truly alive and non stop change. What a beast!
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Another incredible Bea experience. Still has some unresolved tannins so a couple of years away from being seamless. The body is incredibly deep with secondary notes of leather, dust, bitter espresso and fading dark cherry fruit. :-D
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Beautifully aromatic with light oak notes, pruney and rich, recalls an Amarone. Lovely silky texture, sour cherry and cooked plum fruit, long finish, drinking perfectly.
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Medium ruby, wild meaty-herbal-dark cherry-rhubarb fun filled roller coaster ride on the nose, then the palate takes you for another loop to loop. Cured meats, feral and fruity, a great blend of fruit, structure, acid, and a whole lot of other wild goodness. This is aconstantly morphing, complicated wine that arouses the most intellectual and primal parts of your mind all at once. Why do I not have more of his wines in my cellar. Great stuff early peak and going to hang around for a long time. 95pts
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While very good, this did not live up to its showing a couple of weeks ago. Nothing wrong with the bottle, it just didn't shine. Deep, dark kirsch and earth, with plenty of tannin.
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This is really lovely, beautiful, pure, full-bodied and well worn. It has the Bea kirsch notes framed by acidity, leather, and turned earth. Showing great. No rush.
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Maybe not the best vintage of this wine I've had, but loads of Sagrantino character in a relatively clean and transparent framework. Rich, with figs, blood/iron and meat a hint of christmas spice (nutmeg, cinnamon). Quite acidic, bordering on tart. Decent/medium finish.
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Definitely needs more time. Extremely tannic. The problem with this wine is not the tannins, but the apparent lack of characteristics under the tannins. Very few flavours or layers. It improved over several hours in the glass, but not much pleasure for the expensive price tag.
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Brought to Goldmans to celebrate Italy's World Cup win over France. They were serving a 1981 Tiganello too! Lisa's homemade pasta with bacon and zuchinni as entre.
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Conventional wisdom says to give this lots of air, but I'm not sure that's right. On uncorking, it was rich, brash, juicy, and lively (though still ferociously tannic) while distinguished with interesting scents of fruit, funk, and saddle leather. If you had to describe the fruit in one word, it would be "purple." With air, however, the wine became very nondescript, losing its freshness and energy and coming across very much like a monolithic, unfriendly Bordeaux.
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Lola: Van brought me a glass of this blind and I could have sworn it was a Northern Rhone Syrah. Lime, funk, roasted rocks, olives. Dense, concentrated black fruits, tar. Interesting wine.
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5/31/2023 - Eric Wright Likes this wine: 90 Points
A bit flat. Still a solid wine, but lacked the depth I expect from Paolo Bea
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4/4/2021 - ericindc Likes this wine: 97 Points
wow wine. decanted for 3 hrs before dinner and still going strong at hour 7. Wine is at a great place. Fantastic mature qualities with all the typical mushroom and earthy components you expect. The tannins were mostly integrated but still some structure. This also had very pure sweet red and blue fruits that really pushed this wine from good to great. The acidity was a touch low, but still worked very well with prime rib. No rush to drink this, but no real reason to wait. I would be interested to see what this eventually tastes like at in 2040, but I'm unlikely to wait.
This had a TON of sediment so I recommend decanting through a screen, stand up a few days ahead of time, or both.
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12/11/2020 - GHarmsen Likes this wine: 95 Points
Drinking beautifully now at 20 years of age. Opened over the course of 2 hours the decanter, blossoming from reduced, high-quality balsamic vinegar into evolved dried fruits and savory aged leather with elegant, tannins nicely softened with time.
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1/18/2019 - kevinacohn wrote:
As with all older bottles of Paolo Bea, this needs considerable air before it shows well. I almost gave up on the bottle, but two hours later it’s firing on all cylinders. Sweet brambley fruit and baking spices. In the mouth, the wine has achieved near-perfect balance of fruit, acid, and tannin. I’m freaking out, man. I’m sure it can age longer, but why bother? This is great now. Bottle #281.
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12/9/2018 - cweiss wrote: flawed
Very corked. Sad, as this had been hand-carried from the estate years ago and was my last bottle
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9/3/2018 - frogwine Likes this wine: 90 Points
Wine was drinking very well - typically dense nose of ripe plums, a hint of tar and pips. Palate had abundant ripe tannins that were wonderfully fresh and grippy, fruit was sweet (in the best way) with both fresh and baked plum, blackberry and Sagrantino 'grapeyness'. Wine was nicely evolved but will continue to hold steady for another decade or more. drink or hold
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7/24/2017 - cweiss wrote:
Birthday dinner at Dong Khahn.Very good bottle and a good example of Paolo Bea Sagrantino. Expressive fruit, still significant tannin but drinking well, some VA but not a deal breaker. a bit left in the bottle was unchanged two days later.
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3/27/2016 - pbly31toronto wrote: 95 Points
It smells like cherry, vanilla and strawberry. The wine finishes long. It tastes like blackberry. The wine looks brick coloured. The wine has smooth texture.
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1/15/2016 - j45 wrote:
A mess of volatile acidity, ethyl acetate and overripe fruit. Not my thing.
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11/15/2015 - JWG wrote: 95 Points
Luscious bottle. Nose is rich of dried cherry and carmelizing sugar and bit of earth. Palate is unctuous, chewy, glycerine, with dark berries and a bit of mushroom. Acidity is smooth and slowly dominates late, then definitive tannins come in and extend the finish far out. Though I decided to drink by this year, it really feels like it could easily go on for another year or two with no sense of going downhill. Bea, as usual, does wonders.
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9/20/2015 - 14frimaire wrote:
Great
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7/21/2015 - cweiss Likes this wine:
Peach Farm on my birthday. A good bottle! Only a little bit lifted, just enough to be a positive. Plenty of Sagrantino fruit more grown up than adolescent boistrous.Plenty of tannin left but handled well by food (such as roast duck, pork in majic (maple) sauce).
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5/8/2015 - 14frimaire wrote:
This is in a great place. Stood it up for a few weeks and then double decanted a couple of hours before service. It opened a little funky, but by dinner time it was clean, showing some age with the tell tale deep griotte
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3/5/2015 - mcnfarmer wrote:
y
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2/7/2014 - cooberp wrote:
Pop and pour from 3L. Very dense, burnt-seeming nose, with cinnamon and paprika and some black cherryish fruit. Angular and tannic. Acidic, with a hint of the tropical character of the 2004, but much more reticent. Kind of a harsh finish. Might be the format or the lack of aeration, but this glass wasn't ready.
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12/10/2012 - Sgift wrote: 93 Points
Poured Atari Xmas party, big and meaty, constantly changing in the air. Big fruit with spice, menthol, coffee, and all kinds of stuff. Truly alive and non stop change. What a beast!
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7/22/2011 - bg2167 wrote: 92 Points
Another incredible Bea experience. Still has some unresolved tannins so a couple of years away from being seamless. The body is incredibly deep with secondary notes of leather, dust, bitter espresso and fading dark cherry fruit. :-D
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7/17/2011 - Bill Bucklew wrote: 91 Points
Dark saturated red color. Dusted cherry and pork brine on the nose. Tannic (decanter for 4 hours), soft cherry, limestone, strawberry and pomegranate.
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9/5/2010 - kenito799 wrote: 90 Points
Beautifully aromatic with light oak notes, pruney and rich, recalls an Amarone. Lovely silky texture, sour cherry and cooked plum fruit, long finish, drinking perfectly.
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8/13/2010 - cct wrote: 95 Points
Medium ruby, wild meaty-herbal-dark cherry-rhubarb fun filled roller coaster ride on the nose, then the palate takes you for another loop to loop. Cured meats, feral and fruity, a great blend of fruit, structure, acid, and a whole lot of other wild goodness. This is aconstantly morphing, complicated wine that arouses the most intellectual and primal parts of your mind all at once. Why do I not have more of his wines in my cellar. Great stuff early peak and going to hang around for a long time. 95pts
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2/7/2010 - 14frimaire wrote:
While very good, this did not live up to its showing a couple of weeks ago. Nothing wrong with the bottle, it just didn't shine. Deep, dark kirsch and earth, with plenty of tannin.
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1/19/2010 - 14frimaire wrote:
This is really lovely, beautiful, pure, full-bodied and well worn. It has the Bea kirsch notes framed by acidity, leather, and turned earth. Showing great. No rush.
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2/22/2009 - Employee500 wrote: 90 Points
Maybe not the best vintage of this wine I've had, but loads of Sagrantino character in a relatively clean and transparent framework. Rich, with figs, blood/iron and meat a hint of christmas spice (nutmeg, cinnamon). Quite acidic, bordering on tart. Decent/medium finish.
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11/6/2006 - idrinkvino wrote: 88 Points
Definitely needs more time. Extremely tannic. The problem with this wine is not the tannins, but the apparent lack of characteristics under the tannins. Very few flavours or layers. It improved over several hours in the glass, but not much pleasure for the expensive price tag.
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7/9/2006 - eastover wrote:
Brought to Goldmans to celebrate Italy's World Cup win over France. They were serving a 1981 Tiganello too! Lisa's homemade pasta with bacon and zuchinni as entre.
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1/20/2006 - LoireFan wrote: 92 Points
This wine needs a lot of time. I think 5-15 years before cracking another bottle.
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11/23/2005 - Keith Levenberg wrote: 87 Points
Conventional wisdom says to give this lots of air, but I'm not sure that's right. On uncorking, it was rich, brash, juicy, and lively (though still ferociously tannic) while distinguished with interesting scents of fruit, funk, and saddle leather. If you had to describe the fruit in one word, it would be "purple." With air, however, the wine became very nondescript, losing its freshness and energy and coming across very much like a monolithic, unfriendly Bordeaux.
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9/4/2004 - OneLastSyrah wrote:
Lola: Van brought me a glass of this blind and I could have sworn it was a Northern Rhone Syrah. Lime, funk, roasted rocks, olives. Dense, concentrated black fruits, tar. Interesting wine.
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