2001 Bodegas Castaño Yecla Solanera Viñas Viejas

Community Tasting Notes (70) Avg Score: 89.2 points

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  9/11/2023 - SpenceP wrote: 89 Points

  A minute or two after opening, this was all leather, smoke, cherries, mint, spices, and a touch of bitter blackstrap molasses, but it faded completely as it moved back in the mouth, so much so that it was a surprise when the aftertaste turned out to be of very respectable length. Over the course of the next two hours in the glass, the wine became richer and more velvety (lovely Burgundian texture at the 2-hour point) and beautifully present through the entire mouth, but most of the complexity faded away as this happened. This is really astonishing for a two decade old wine that was never meant for anything but early drinking. This is very obviously a wine in decline--my (possibly wrong) memory of this wine when it was released is of a wine that deserved 93 points. But even in decline, this is still quite lovely as an everyday red wine. Nevertheless, if you have this in your cellar, the sooner you finish these the better! [Tasted over more than two hours from the Jancis Robinson glass, and briefly from the Conterno glass, with very similar results. The score started at 88 points and then kept flickering between 88 and 89 points in the course of the two hours. If there were only a stage--but there wasn't!--when all the complexity and richness and texture had been present at the same time, this would easily have deserved a score considerably higher.] (Previously tasted 1/31/22.)

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  1/31/2022 - SpenceP wrote: 89 Points

  Faded and thin immediately after opening, with a slightly unpleasant earthiness, in the course of the next hour and a half in the glass the wine gradually fills out with cherries, smoke, coffee, mint, fennel, and licorice (and the earthiness goes away). This is a wine that was crafted to be at its peak on release, so it's really quite impressive that it's still enjoyable after all these years, at least as a casual everyday wine. But still, there is no way to avoid noticing that this is very much a wine in decline. If you have this in your cellar, the sooner you finish it the better. [I have now tasted a total of four bottles of this wine. Of the four, three were as described above. One, however, with identical history, seemed distinctly older and less enjoyable, with a faintly oxidized (prune-like) quality--difference in the corks?]

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  5/10/2020 - eudora Likes this wine: 90 Points

  Found this dusty orphan bottle on its side in the corner of the cellar tonight. I think it was a $15 bottle - I cannot remember why or where I bought it, but my notes from several prior bottles indicated some nice structure. It’s burger night in Social Distance Land; what’s the downside? So here goes nothing.
  Ding! Such a juicy, gentle, interesting wine. The fruits are more red than black at this point, spicy mouth with touches of tar and tobacco, nice acid, decent tannins and zero off-notes. It worked perfectly with the pan-fried burgers and home fries. What a treat... what a surprise!

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  4/13/2018 - bitdrerik wrote: 90 Points

  Eðalklúbbur, vínsmakk #4 vor 2018 (Hlíðarás 10): Mjög svipaður litur og á Hécula víninu. En samt meiri öldrunarmerki. Kom í ljós að þetta vín var 10 árum eldra. Í nefinu lykt úr fjöru, salt, reykur. Eftir smá stund í glasi dofnaði fjaran en eftir sat brennd karamella og bílskúr. Í munninum talsverð sýra, krydd. Fannst fyrir tannínum og þarna mátti líka finna dökk ber og eik. Flott vín (enda toppvínið frá víngerðinni) sem á eitthvað eftir. Mig minnir að Hafliði hafi sagt að þetta hafi verið síðasta flaskan hans.

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  1/25/2017 - bon vivant wrote: 91 Points

  A real great showing considering the age and initial outlay. Better than the 1999 and a few bottles I kept just for fun did not disappoint. Classic mouvedre, lighter and softer with age but still with good spice and earth tones to round off the dark red blue fruits. Unfortunately later vintages tasted on release cdid not have the extraction and appeal of the early year, s so makes one wonder if this was a victim of it's own success...

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