From 75cl, high fill. Label mottled and mouldy, but the excellent cork came out easily and in one piece. Decanted 90 minutes, improved until last drop. Massive dark red colour, barely any bricking to rim(!) Disappointing scent, vanilla oak and leather, of course, but also some mould and fusty cellar funk. But the palate was excellent, with that searing Ygay acidity, orange peel as others have noted, and old oak maturity balanced with an unexpectedly full-bodied, concentrated core of ripe, sweet Tempranillo intensity, pushing hard until the very final drop. Longish finish (not as stunning as I remember from the 1970, but superior to 1989 and 1991, both consumed a decade ago, so...) This bottle would have been good for another couple of decades, at least if the mouldy touch up front didn't gain the upper hand. 91P(?)
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Very much alive though fully mature. Lovely poise and balance with very soft leathery flavours. Pale ruby/ mahogany. Drinking beautifully in a fading elegantly way I loved this. We pulled the cork and went pretty much straight in and it performed from the start. Extraordinary.
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Three day birthday celebration; great wines.: I'm fairly oak adverse, except with Rioja. Good thing in this case. Oak, cedar, tart cherries, smoke, orange peal and oak again. From the flavor and aroma profile, I'd have expected to antipathetic, but I liked this, as did the entire small group.
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9/4/2022 - acyso wrote: flawed
(Mostly) Spanish dinner (Chicago, IL): I got to this late, and by the time I did, the TCA had bloomed.
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4/21/2022 - Stefan75 Likes this wine: 94 Points
Some fruit left, great balance, fantastic classic Rioja aged for 37y, a treat!
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4/23/2021 - honest bob wrote: 91 Points
From 75cl, high fill. Label mottled and mouldy, but the excellent cork came out easily and in one piece. Decanted 90 minutes, improved until last drop. Massive dark red colour, barely any bricking to rim(!) Disappointing scent, vanilla oak and leather, of course, but also some mould and fusty cellar funk. But the palate was excellent, with that searing Ygay acidity, orange peel as others have noted, and old oak maturity balanced with an unexpectedly full-bodied, concentrated core of ripe, sweet Tempranillo intensity, pushing hard until the very final drop. Longish finish (not as stunning as I remember from the 1970, but superior to 1989 and 1991, both consumed a decade ago, so...) This bottle would have been good for another couple of decades, at least if the mouldy touch up front didn't gain the upper hand. 91P(?)
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1/4/2021 - Mr Armes Likes this wine: 90 Points
Very much alive though fully mature. Lovely poise and balance with very soft leathery flavours. Pale ruby/ mahogany. Drinking beautifully in a fading elegantly way I loved this. We pulled the cork and went pretty much straight in and it performed from the start. Extraordinary.
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10/18/2020 - WST Likes this wine:
Three day birthday celebration; great wines.: I'm fairly oak adverse, except with Rioja. Good thing in this case. Oak,
cedar, tart cherries, smoke, orange peal and oak again. From the flavor and aroma profile, I'd have expected to antipathetic, but I liked this, as did the entire small group.
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