1982 Bodegas Alejandro Fernández Ribera del Duero Tinto Pesquera Reserva Especial

Community Tasting Notes (2) Avg Score: 93 points

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  3/27/2020 - pavel_p Likes this wine: 91 Points

  6 years after having had a genuinely stunning bottle of the 82 Reserva Especial (rated 95 then), I opened this recently acquired second bottle in pristine condition: bottom neck fill and cork with dry top. Bottle had an inscription dated Nov 88 which seemed written and signed by Alejandro Fernandez so I guess this was purchased at the winery. Pnp and drank over 2h. Very nice deep nose with earth and animal notes , unfortunately the mid palate was nowhere near the earlier bottle, good balance and easy drinking but rather muted or even generic, integrated tannins which became a bit more pronounced towards the end, good length.
  Not sure what to make out of it - bad bottle or is the wine past peak (however no signs of oxidization or tiredness)? Not bad my any means but unfortunately just nothing special

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  10/14/2014 - pavel_p Likes this wine: 95 Points

  PnP on a week-day with pasta at home as I was not sure what to expect. Bottom neck fill. Excellent and vey tight sitting cork with only the tip stained. Garnet, bricking at the rim. Great, fragrant nose with strawberries and earth upon pulling the cork. Beautiful and very Burgundian on the palate. Amazing balance of fruit, acidity and freshness as I have never seen in a 30 year old wine (12.5% alcohol is also rather remarkable for Spain..). Medium plus finish. With more air you get more herbal and earthy notes on the intriguing nose and palate, and fine to medium tannins appear. Definitively one of the very best wines I have tried.
  Understand this was the very first vintage of Pesquera's top wine (Pesquera Janus Reserva Especial) which is only is produced in the best years. If the finish was a bit longer this bottle would come close to perfection for me...
  
  PS: With even more air this becomes increasingly dominated by the usual older wine leathery notes and the freshness and expressiveness is gone, so would suggest PnP and no long decant..

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