merrimacga
Member #114,258 signed up 2/27/2010 and last accessed 11/19/2010
Profile
Member since February 2010
Locale: Georgia, USA
Favorite region: Tuscany, Italy; Oporto/Douro, Portugal; Bordeaux, France; Russian River Valley, California; Barossa Valley, Australia; Maipo Valley, Chile; Niagara Peninsula, Canada; Lumpkin County, Georgia; Columbia Valley, Washington; Oregon
Dream wine: There are a number of wines on my "taste before I die" list but the most notable ones are: any good year Ch. Petrus; the 67, 83 and/or 90 Ch. d'Yquem; and any good year Guigal La Landonne, La Mouline and La Turque (preferably in a flight!).
Wine tasting and collecting is one of my principal hobbies currently and has been for about 7 years now. Most of my notes have been handwritten or are recorded in another program so you won't find them listed here (at least not for awhile) but the collection is currently at nearly 200 bottles. Some of my prize bottles include the 99 Lafite Rothschild, the 98 Latour, the 00 Yquem and the 01 Madonna del Piano. My favorite producers include Fonterutoli (Tuscany, Italy), Mer Soleil (Monterey County, California), and Ch. d'Yquem (Bordeaux, France). I love the Douro in Portugal (especially Taylor, Dow and Graham). I'm also quite fond of Lumpkin County in my home state of Georgia, where my favorites include Wolf Mountain.
While much of my collection I would consider to be "drink now", I do my homework on every wine before a tasting, if I know the list in advance. In addition to researching the winemaker's site, if there is one, I check Parker, Wine Spectator, Wine Enthusiast and even a couple of others. I'm most fond of the 20 point system for larger tastings and ones where I don't have an advance list. When purchasing older wines, I always additionally consult Michael Broadbent's books first. When I consume at home, I generally take copious notes and I currently use the Vinocella app for that as it is perhaps the most meticulous tasting notes program I have found to date.
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1970 Graham Porto Vintage
11/18/2010 - merrimacga wrote: 95 Points
Excellent bottle with good ullage. Uncorked at home at 10:30am. Cork took two tries and crumbled on removal but miraculously none of it fell in wine. Sampled: pale amber color, nose and taste like an excellent tawny port but a bit hot alcohol and a bit rough. Let bottle settle until 1:30pm. Used steel filter and silver funnel to place in decanter, leaving dregs in bottle. Decanted until 5:30pm. Sampled again: dark amber brown color, slightly more subtle nose, and smoother taste but still fairly hot alcohol. Rinsed and dried bottle then, again using the filter and funnel, replaced wine back into bottle and stoppered for transport to the tasting. Removed stopper and let stand until pour at 8:15pm. In glass: pretty deep red with just a touch of purple and brown; soft notes of raisin, alcohol, almonds, oak, and fig on the nose; lovely taste of softer but still very warm alcohol, still like a fine tawny port but far more refined and very elegant, balanced, harmonious, perfect. Shared with 11 others (1-ounce pours) at close of tasting and rave reviews from all. Had enough left over for the seconds requested and to take home roughly quarter bottle. All who had it with the pumpkin pie agreed it was an excellent pairing.
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1999 Brigaldara Amarone della Valpolicella Classico
2/27/2010 - merrimacga wrote: 90 Points
Twice filtered - the 1999 needs this at least once - upon opening but not decanted. Surprisingly deep in colour considering its age. Very figgy...much like a young tawny port but without as much alcohol. Very approachable now...good now but, amazingly, may age a few more years. Elegant and difficult to pair superbly but will go well enough with a rich red pasta or a dessert. I would heartily recommend to any wine lover who also appreciates a good tawny port.
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