Friday Evening at the Sampler

What is becoming a nice friday post work event. We met with Dimitris at the Sampler in south ken and the 3 of us tried what they have by the glass in their inert gas machines. Such a great idea

• 1990 Château Batailley 91 Points

  France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Pauillac

  Effectively straight from open with no decanting. Nice open on the nose, very bordeaux nose. Smooth on the palate , well rounded and at the right time to be enjoyed. Not a multilayered supercomplex wine but a every enjoyable wine. A bit of a classic bordeaux.

  Post a Comment / Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No

• 1982 Bodegas Muga Rioja Reserva 87 Points

  Spain, La Rioja, La Rioja Alta, Rioja

  A bit thin and light. Nice on the nose with good fruit. The wine is now past its peak but still drinks okish. Drink up

  Post a Comment / Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No

• 2004 Château Le Dôme

  France, Bordeaux, Libournais, Saint-Émilion Grand Cru

  Very young and with no decanting it was difficult to enjoy. Very modern and blind i would have guessed new world. Dense on the nose and with a hint of overextraction. Def one for the new world lovers. For the moment one one to forget for a few years in the cellar.

  Post a Comment / Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No

• 1985 Giuseppe Quintarelli Valpolicella Classico Superiore 87 Points

  Italy, Veneto, Valpolicella, Valpolicella Classico Superiore

  Surprisingly alive. Mild on the nose and definitely the best years are behind it. Still drinkable and mor eimportanly enjoyable but it is already turned the corner.. Maybe a wine to have for a sunday lunch.

  Post a Comment / Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No

• 1989 Château Grand-Puy-Lacoste

  France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Pauillac

  Tried it straight on open so only partial wine notes here. The nose although on open is reclussive still shows signs a beautiful and open pauillac. Wine feels very well made and alive, vibrant. Given an hour of decanting this will be a 93+ wine. One to look out for and buy.

  Post a Comment / Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No

• 2004 Tenute Cisa Asinari dei Marchesi di Grésy Barbaresco Martinenga Gaiun 92 Points

  Italy, Piedmont, Langhe, Barbaresco

  New style, modern barbaresco. Bright and alive. Dense and wih a dark fruit nose. Cherries spring to mind. Big and strong on the palate, obviously very young and feels like it needs decanting at this stage. Yet a very structured, well made Barbaresco and one to wait 5yrs minimum. We recently tried the 1997 and that was a joyfull wine. The 2004 should be alot better than that but still some more time to mature is needed. 92 at the moment and could easily be a 94+ wine going fwd.

  Post a Comment / Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No

• 2005 Masi Amarone della Valpolicella Classico Costasera 88 Points

  Italy, Veneto, Valpolicella, Amarone della Valpolicella Classico

  Tried it blind. Lots of sweet notes and it reminded me of an australian wine, like The factor. Smooth, soft and round wine; dense but the sweet tones drown out any complexity.

  Post a Comment / Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No

• NV Bodegas Pérez Hidalgo Triana 30yr Old PX 93 Points

  Spain, Andalucía, Jerez-Xérès-Sherry

  Although known for their manzanillas this wine has nothing to do with that. Made from grapes raisined on the vine this is a super dense almost solid wine with a fine array of flavours. Powerfull yet delicate, the raisin and nutty nose dominates on open. Smooth and rich , dense with lots of layers on the palate. A real joy.

  Post a Comment / Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No

• NV Rey Fernando de Castilla Jerez-Xérès-Sherry Palo Cortado "Antique"

  Spain, Andalucía, Jerez-Xérès-Sherry

  We found it very oxidised and poor. Difficult to approach. Reading the comments below (especially Jeb Dunnuck which we trust though Rhone Report) the comments have nothing to do with what we tried. So will not post further comments as it may have been a bad bottle.

  Post a Comment / Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No

Issue is as always the fact that the wines are tasted as if they were just opened as the inert gas blocks any oxidation. But one can extrapolate quality.