1998 Viña Almaviva S.A. Almaviva

Community Tasting Notes (48) Avg Score: 90.4 points

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  10/20/2023 - shafer1994 Likes this wine: 96 Points

  Still young after 25 years: I love Almaviva! From the second case. All bottles have been a huge success so far. Now: Deep color, very fruity and complexity nose. Still strong. Dark berries dominate the palate together with notes of chocolate, cappuccino ( with some brown sugar), vanilla. Everything in deep harmony and balance. Long and silky finish with a wonderful sweetness. Enough power left for a couple of more years. No need to hurry with the rest of the case.

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  9/4/2023 - Benoit Hardy Likes this wine: 94 Points

  I had drunk the 2014 in 2021 and I had not been convinced by the very heavy and cocoa-like style of this wine.
  
  The nose is very autumnal, on dead leaves, undergrowth and fruit still very much alive in the background.
  
  The palate is very harmonious, with a symbiosis between black fruit and tertiary notes. The attack is on the plum and the blueberry, in a coated way. The juice is dense, with a touch of vanilla that stands out, when the shift towards the tertiary notes of undergrowth takes place. It's pleasant, while being intense and sapid at the same time. We are far from the heaviness of the recent Almaviva. Delicate finish on mushrooms with melted tannins and a nice length.
  
  A wine with Bordeaux accents, very mature and pleasant. Excellent.

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  2/26/2022 - galewskj wrote: 93 Points

  Open That Bottle Night (Mike's house): Pop and pour, there's some blue fruit but mostly red fruit. The wine is soft and friendly, still fruit forward, polished, friendly. The wine seemed to be falling apart after a couple hours.

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  2/26/2022 - I'd Rather Be Drinking Wine Likes this wine: 95 Points

  I figured this bottle would be really good, or really bad....CT had this bottle going downhill in 2010, and here we are in 2022. Fortunately, this bottle was really good! Fruit was present and lively and tertiary goodness was present in spades. This is a perfect example of the balance my palate enjoys, i.e., between fruit and tertiary flavors. On a scale, I would say this was 45% fruit and 55% tertiary.
  
  The fruit was mostly dark fruit (cassis was probably the most dominant), with some blackberry and plum notes. The tertiary flavors included earth, bramble, some cedar and some tar notes, with hints of mushroom. This wine was a pleasant surprise and held together quite well throughout an hour of drinking it. 95+ for me, and much better than the 96 Lafleur next to it! Will likely keep a bit longer, but I wouldn't hesitate opening a bottle now! This was my only bottle.

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  12/25/2020 - mblatino Likes this wine: 96 Points

  Deep garnet colored.
  
  Beautiful nose with classic Bordeaux age signs, forest floor, barn yard and fall leaves.
  
  On the palate; dark berries, cassis, oak. Lively acidity and nice harmonious tannins. Very well matured wine. This bottle was on fire on the night!
  
  Big surprise. First time having the Almaviva. Definitely not the last!

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View all 48 Community Tasting Notes

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