A Great weekend in Athens
Athens, Greece
Tasted Saturday, February 12, 2011 - Sunday, February 13, 2011 by Papies with 671 views
Introduction
Went to Athens for the Dionysia 2011 Wine Festival but we also managed to fit a couple of great wine events too. For Key notes from the Dionysia 2011 pls see the specific tasting event
Flight 1 - Dinner at Tartare, Glyfada, Athens (5 Notes)
Tartare allows BYOB so we decided to dig into Patrick's cellar and dig an Italian Tuscan 97 horizontal. But as we had no Sassicaia we opted for a guest... Gaja Conteisa
Wines were served semi blind, ie we knew the list but we didnt know which is which
Flight 2 - Lunch at Patrick & Alexia's (5 Notes)
Alexis whips some magic in the kitchen and Patrick opens his wine cellar.
The Theme for lunch was 1995. Patrcik chose 5 95 vintage wines with no limits on producer or region.
Step 1: The wines were tried in full ignorance of origin at first. Very difficult to spot them ex the Grange which looked out of place with the more subtle others
Step 2: The wines list was revealed but we were not told which is which
Step 3: Wines were revelaed
We all spotted the granbussia must have been the flawed bottle. Grange was an easy pick and so was the Mortet. We all thought he Masseto was the Angelus
1997 Isole e Olena Cepparello Toscana IGT 92 Points
Italy, Tuscany, Toscana IGT
(2/12/2011)
No decanting was judged needed. Lots of cherry notes on the nose to the point we thought it was a piedmonte wine. Still very powerful , very much alive a a testament to how good this wine can be. Lots of firm tannins and a very long finish. 92+.drink now ut this will last another 5-10 years easily
Post a Comment / Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No
1997 Tenuta dell'Ornellaia Bolgheri Superiore Ornellaia 91 Points
Italy, Tuscany, Bolgheri, Bolgheri Superiore
(2/12/2011)
Decanted for 1 hour.
Mild on the nose, reserved. Powerful , strong yet smooth on the palate as the tannins are well integrated. Our bottle had a bit of so2 on the palate at start. The least favourite of the night and in a way a disappointment. 91+ and not sure if time will help here
Post a Comment / Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No
1997 Antinori Solaia 93 Points
Italy, Tuscany, Toscana IGT
(2/12/2011)
Decanted for approximately 1hour
Smooth and supple, dense nose of red fruit. Very well made wine and well integrated. Feels that it has so much more to give for the future however very enjoyable at the moment. 93+ to 94 and we would suggest to drink in 5 years or so
Post a Comment / Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No
1997 Gaja Langhe Nebbiolo Conteisa 95 Points
Italy, Piedmont, Langhe, Langhe DOC
(2/12/2011)
Needs decanting at this stage and 1.5 hrs in a carafe helped this vibrant and still young wine. It actually continued to evolve and improve over the course of the 2 hours of the dinner
This is a great wine with amazing balance and character. WOTN. 94-95 drink in 5yrs+ and actually casts a worry of the other Gaja 97s as to when to open them especially the 99pointer sperss.
Post a Comment / Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No
1995 Penfolds Grange 92 Points
Australia, South Australia
(2/13/2011)
Ssuper dark in color. Lots of oak and vanilla. Open and expressive on the nose, but feels overdone, overworked, over oaked. Not our style 92 at best
Post a Comment / Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No