My bottle for a blind Spanish tasting. Very rich, bone dry and yet gracefully creamy with notes of fresh saline, fresh coconut, Eureka lemon, mild herbs and sungold cherry tomatoes on a med-full frame. As I'd hoped, even blind it's apparent to all that it's a major step up from the other whites that preceded it. Exceptional.
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Dinner at 312 Fish Market (Chicago, IL): Served double blind. Clearly not something I normally drink. This had an oily, rich palate, with a slightly phenolic/herbal element. Relatively low acid, and higher alcohol had me thinking Mediterranean. This was a nice foil for the various pieces of belly nigiri, but I would find it hard to drink more than a glass of it ordinarily.
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Youthful gold appearance. Focused but lifted lemons, key lime, maybe some cantaloupe. Subtle but perceptible oak that is well integrated. There’s a fascinating scent that reminds me of graham cracker pie crust that I really like. Medium to full bodied on the palate, high acidity, fills the mouth with cooked lemon flavors. I recently tried candied orange and lemon peels for the first time, and there is definitely an element of those types of flavors without the overt sweetness. Others reviewers have commented on the wine’s creaminess, and that is definitely a notable feature of the mouthfeel. It rides the line between being lively/energetic and rich even a bit viscous. Long complex finish that is very enjoyable. This wine is still primary, feels like will improve for years to come.
I’m not very experienced in high quality white Rioja; there isn’t a lot out there, after all. My standard has been the Lopez de Heredia Reserva Tondonia Blanco (GR is a bit too rich for my blood) and that is an entirely different beast than this. The LdH is wild, oxidative, wholly unique. This is much more restrained, not oxidative in the least, and to me, tastes very much like a top quality Cote de Beaune white Burgundy. The wine looks the part too, with its Burgundy bottle shape and the separate small vintage label on the neck.
This wine and the LdH Blanco are the bookends of the quality white Rioja spectrum. I wish there were more examples of this category out there. Wonderful.
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4/17/2024 - Neecies Likes this wine:
My bottle for a blind Spanish tasting. Very rich, bone dry and yet gracefully creamy with notes of fresh saline, fresh coconut, Eureka lemon, mild herbs and sungold cherry tomatoes on a med-full frame. As I'd hoped, even blind it's apparent to all that it's a major step up from the other whites that preceded it. Exceptional.
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10/3/2023 - acyso wrote: 90 Points
Dinner at 312 Fish Market (Chicago, IL): Served double blind. Clearly not something I normally drink. This had an oily, rich palate, with a slightly phenolic/herbal element. Relatively low acid, and higher alcohol had me thinking Mediterranean. This was a nice foil for the various pieces of belly nigiri, but I would find it hard to drink more than a glass of it ordinarily.
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3/21/2023 - Ben Christiansen wrote:
Every taster is just blown away. To me just a touch tired, and there it is.
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12/29/2022 - NoahCap wrote:
Youthful gold appearance. Focused but lifted lemons, key lime, maybe some cantaloupe. Subtle but perceptible oak that is well integrated. There’s a fascinating scent that reminds me of graham cracker pie crust that I really like. Medium to full bodied on the palate, high acidity, fills the mouth with cooked lemon flavors. I recently tried candied orange and lemon peels for the first time, and there is definitely an element of those types of flavors without the overt sweetness. Others reviewers have commented on the wine’s creaminess, and that is definitely a notable feature of the mouthfeel. It rides the line between being lively/energetic and rich even a bit viscous. Long complex finish that is very enjoyable. This wine is still primary, feels like will improve for years to come.
I’m not very experienced in high quality white Rioja; there isn’t a lot out there, after all. My standard has been the Lopez de Heredia Reserva Tondonia Blanco (GR is a bit too rich for my blood) and that is an entirely different beast than this. The LdH is wild, oxidative, wholly unique. This is much more restrained, not oxidative in the least, and to me, tastes very much like a top quality Cote de Beaune white Burgundy. The wine looks the part too, with its Burgundy bottle shape and the separate small vintage label on the neck.
This wine and the LdH Blanco are the bookends of the quality white Rioja spectrum. I wish there were more examples of this category out there. Wonderful.
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6/23/2022 - Luxembourg_Vin Likes this wine: 98 Points
One of my favorite wines of all time. The best of great white Rhône and Burgundy, infitely complex, creamy with nice acid and fruit. Bravo, Telmo!
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