Piperade Restaurant, San Francisco
Tasted Friday, January 25, 2013 by drwine2001 with 1,128 views
Another incomparable vertical dinner put on by the Rare Wine Company. As always, an incredible opportunity to taste through 5 decades of a relatively unknown (in the U.S., anyway) traditional Rioja producer.
Both the 2001 Monte Real and the newer styled Lealtanza were pretty tough going (for different reasons), but the mid-1990 wines were nice.
This was a terrific flight that afforded the opportunity to taste both of the house's top wines from good vintages.
Other attendees were more impressed with this flight than I was (particularly with the 1982), but I found the 1981 was pretty special.
From flawed wines to the 2 excellent older examples
As you can see from the notes, I found this to be a rather mixed bag with relatively few "wow" wines. It was also interesting that several of my favorites were not Monte Reals, but its stablemate, the Vina Albina, which is made in a more elegant style without Garnacha in the cepage. I don't think that Riojanas occupies a spot in the highest echelon of producers in the region. Nevertheless, it was a great treat to taste through these wines, and many of them would be worth trying over the short term given their unbelievably reasonable pricing.
NV Királyudvar Tokaji Pezsgő Henye
Hungary, Tokaji
Crisp, dry, spicy Tokaji fruit with a bit of yeast.
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