From magnum, nice violet and truffles, tar, rose leaves, good tannin structure, maybe a little bit too alcoholic in the palate and finish, 10 more years ahead to develop his peak
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Medium-light red, with some sediment already. This wine was opened at 2:45 p.m., decanted for four hours, returned to its bottle, placed inside a refrigerator for 15 minutes, and taken to a restaurant, where it was consumed initially around 7:30 p.m.
Upon opening, I could detect on the nose a bit of cherry, tobacco, and redcurrant. In the mouth, it was already showing well, with loads of dark fruit and good complexity, but the tannins were a bit overpowering. It was tasted with both a Bordeaux and with a Burgundy glass, and it was better in the first one.
After one hour, the wine shut down completely in the decanter - all I could smell now was wood, and the wine seemed very light and oaky in the mouth. I confess I got a little worried, because the latest TNs here mentioned the same experience.
When rebottled after four hours, things had improved a lot - it was much more like when I opened the bottle than what I had seen in my latest try. At this point, it was a 94 pts wine - great, but not exceptional. The tannins in particular were still obtrusive at the end.
However, when served during dinner, the bottle had fully integrated. And what a wine - it had incredible depth, and a palette of flavours which was really impressive. This is a layered, complex, structured, delicious wine. The tannins were silky by then, which allowed the looong finish of this La Serra to be enjoyed fully. A wow wine for sure!
96-97pts, and I would say at its peak, with many years still left. However, decanting is necessary to be able to enjoy it now at its fullest.
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The gift of this wine is in the changing nose over 4 hrs of decanting...which is quite amazing. However the difficulty is the slightly unbalanced tannins...if you could only smell this wine it would be a great...but the palate doesn't live up to the price.
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Big, ripe wine. Bold, purple fruit flavors, with some floral notes that give away its origins. Big, heady, fine tannic structure. Very nice, needs time.
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Saturday Tasting Group (Knightsbridge Wine Shop (Northbrook, IL)): Lovely reflection of terroir. Lovely, sexy and flamboyant. Lots of life and grip on the palate. A unique rusty nail play with lush roundness on the palate. Rustic spicy and robust finish. Outstanding.
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4/9/2024 - rzymelka wrote: flawed
Cooked
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3/3/2023 - P-M wrote: 90 Points
Very close to final retirement. Still enjoyable but presumably a shadow of its former self. Throws a lot of sediment.
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2/19/2021 - soyhead wrote:
off-bottle. quel dommage.
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11/4/2016 - dcwino wrote: 95 Points
2016 Villa d’Este Wine Symposium - Kelly, Alan and Kevin's excellent adventure; 11/3/2016-11/12/2016 (Villa D’este, Lake Como, Piedmont, Milan and Frankfurt): Expressive nose displaying dry cherry, fruitcake, tar, tobacco and a hint of iron. Excellent concentration, silky with a hint of rusty nail, bright acidity, noticeable but nicely integrated tannins, and a long dry cherry and caramel driven finish. Although concentrated, I find the wine to be very traditional. It is very youthful but drinking beautifully. No need to hurry but not a bad time to try one.
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12/6/2015 - aquacongas Likes this wine: 94 Points
From magnum, nice violet and truffles, tar, rose leaves, good tannin structure, maybe a little bit too alcoholic in the palate and finish, 10 more years ahead to develop his peak
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6/12/2015 - br_winelover Likes this wine: 96 Points
Medium-light red, with some sediment already. This wine was opened at 2:45 p.m., decanted for four hours, returned to its bottle, placed inside a refrigerator for 15 minutes, and taken to a restaurant, where it was consumed initially around 7:30 p.m.
Upon opening, I could detect on the nose a bit of cherry, tobacco, and redcurrant. In the mouth, it was already showing well, with loads of dark fruit and good complexity, but the tannins were a bit overpowering. It was tasted with both a Bordeaux and with a Burgundy glass, and it was better in the first one.
After one hour, the wine shut down completely in the decanter - all I could smell now was wood, and the wine seemed very light and oaky in the mouth. I confess I got a little worried, because the latest TNs here mentioned the same experience.
When rebottled after four hours, things had improved a lot - it was much more like when I opened the bottle than what I had seen in my latest try. At this point, it was a 94 pts wine - great, but not exceptional. The tannins in particular were still obtrusive at the end.
However, when served during dinner, the bottle had fully integrated. And what a wine - it had incredible depth, and a palette of flavours which was really impressive. This is a layered, complex, structured, delicious wine. The tannins were silky by then, which allowed the looong finish of this La Serra to be enjoyed fully. A wow wine for sure!
96-97pts, and I would say at its peak, with many years still left. However, decanting is necessary to be able to enjoy it now at its fullest.
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5/19/2015 - Charlie Carnes wrote: flawed
Harsh, nearing maderized, hideous really. These are consistently average, to horribly flawed.
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8/19/2014 - Charlie Carnes wrote: 84 Points
Ho-hum. Red wine. OK.
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6/27/2014 - cmbond wrote:
Madeirized, bricking edge, muted fruit. Very strange for this wine/vintage.
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6/18/2013 - Blake Brown wrote: flawed
Yikes! Another corked bottle.
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5/26/2012 - smenzies wrote: 92 Points
The gift of this wine is in the changing nose over 4 hrs of decanting...which is quite amazing. However the difficulty is the slightly unbalanced tannins...if you could only smell this wine it would be a great...but the palate doesn't live up to the price.
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8/29/2009 - psmith wrote:
Big, ripe wine. Bold, purple fruit flavors, with some floral notes that give away its origins. Big, heady, fine tannic structure. Very nice, needs time.
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8/29/2009 - beezer6 wrote: 94 Points
Saturday Tasting Group (Knightsbridge Wine Shop (Northbrook, IL)): Lovely reflection of terroir. Lovely, sexy and flamboyant.
Lots of life and grip on the palate. A unique rusty nail play with lush roundness on the palate.
Rustic spicy and robust finish. Outstanding.
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