I tasted the 2018 vintage recently and it was stellar: Deep, Coche-esque toast, highest precision. Naturally, expectations were high for the 2021 vintage, especially given the raft of perfect critic scores. But, this bottle, though layered with a good acidity backbone, was incredibly reductive. Some air helped a bit (92+pts after two hours in a decanter). It's a waiting game now - I suggest shelving it for at least 5 years.
TN: Initially, reduction is overpowering - on both nose and palate, masking everything else. Challenging to enjoy. Decanting over two hours slightly mellows it. Gradually, layers unfold - vibrant citrus, ripe orchard fruits with a hint of tropicality, toasted sesame, and a salty spine. Acidity is sharp yet balanced, never overwhelming. Shows great potential.
Decanting: As said above, I would wait. Otherwise a long (4h+?) decant is advised.
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Tasted blind. Popcorn and heavy matchstick flavors suggest reduction. But overall highly appealing already. Pear and a linear citrus fruit. After 30m in decanter also adding more refinement as well as mango. Lots of salty minerality. A creamy texture with electric acidity. There is also a certain sweetness to the palate that adds more tropical notes of banana.
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The 2021 Giaconda Estate Vineyard is an elegant, full body wine with a very long finish, 45+ seconds, it was a pure pop and pour night and we enjoyed this wine with some nice Aussie cheeses, in addition, I enjoyed these wines, the 2019 Morey Coffinet Chassagne-Montrachet 1er Cru La Romanee and 2020 Bouchard Bourgogne, at my Christmas Eve Eve dinner party to have a reference.
The Giaconda Estate Vineyard is clearly a 97+ pt wine
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At our annual Wine Group End of Year Lunch. This wine was horribly flawed by irresolvable sulfur levels and underlying reduction reminiscent of some years of Leflaive. There is some intense well structured fruit beneath this volcano but it takes some digging and time under Stelvin is unlikely to resolve the problem. Is this some groovy marketing trick (" all that burnt match character just like Leflaive and Coche ! "), careless winemaking or just a bad bottle ? Anyway the Meursault that followed was pristine !
This lived up to its WA rating for me and our other tasters. Heavy notes of Meursault-like brioche. Reductive, oaky. Very rich and delicious. I'm very happy to have snagged a case within the few seconds it was available for international shipment.
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Tasted blind. The initial bouquet and palate were disappointing. An almost petrol aroma and palate. I don’t understand these characters in Giaconda. Reportedly, it has shown these characters in other tastings. 2+ hours in the glass saw these characters dissipate. I expect with time it will come around.
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12/29/2023 - Cailles wrote: 92 Points
I tasted the 2018 vintage recently and it was stellar: Deep, Coche-esque toast, highest precision. Naturally, expectations were high for the 2021 vintage, especially given the raft of perfect critic scores. But, this bottle, though layered with a good acidity backbone, was incredibly reductive. Some air helped a bit (92+pts after two hours in a decanter). It's a waiting game now - I suggest shelving it for at least 5 years.
TN: Initially, reduction is overpowering - on both nose and palate, masking everything else. Challenging to enjoy. Decanting over two hours slightly mellows it. Gradually, layers unfold - vibrant citrus, ripe orchard fruits with a hint of tropicality, toasted sesame, and a salty spine. Acidity is sharp yet balanced, never overwhelming. Shows great potential.
Decanting: As said above, I would wait. Otherwise a long (4h+?) decant is advised.
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12/28/2023 - sirpat00 wrote: 96 Points
Tasted blind. Popcorn and heavy matchstick flavors suggest reduction. But overall highly appealing already. Pear and a linear citrus fruit. After 30m in decanter also adding more refinement as well as mango. Lots of salty minerality. A creamy texture with electric acidity. There is also a certain sweetness to the palate that adds more tropical notes of banana.
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12/28/2023 - LordOfGlencoe wrote: 95 Points
Structure reminded me of a Burgundy chard. Very smokey nose. Powerful citrus fruit.
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12/26/2023 - wizlb wrote: 97 Points
A Boxing Day Winner:
The 2021 Giaconda Estate Vineyard is an elegant, full body wine with a very long finish, 45+ seconds, it was a pure pop and pour night and we enjoyed this wine with some nice Aussie cheeses, in addition, I enjoyed these wines, the 2019 Morey Coffinet Chassagne-Montrachet 1er Cru La Romanee and 2020 Bouchard Bourgogne, at my Christmas Eve Eve dinner party to have a reference.
The Giaconda Estate Vineyard is clearly a 97+ pt wine
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11/27/2023 - drjb wrote: flawed
At our annual Wine Group End of Year Lunch. This wine was horribly flawed by irresolvable sulfur levels and underlying reduction reminiscent of some years of Leflaive. There is some intense well structured fruit beneath this volcano but it takes some digging and time under Stelvin is unlikely to resolve the problem. Is this some groovy marketing trick (" all that burnt match character just like Leflaive and Coche ! "), careless winemaking or just a bad bottle ? Anyway the Meursault that followed was pristine !
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8/6/2023 - Montesquieu Likes this wine: 98 Points
This lived up to its WA rating for me and our other tasters. Heavy notes of Meursault-like brioche. Reductive, oaky. Very rich and delicious. I'm very happy to have snagged a case within the few seconds it was available for international shipment.
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7/18/2023 - richard.presser wrote:
Tasted blind. The initial bouquet and palate were disappointing. An almost petrol aroma and palate. I don’t understand these characters in Giaconda. Reportedly, it has shown these characters in other tastings. 2+ hours in the glass saw these characters dissipate. I expect with time it will come around.
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