5x 1964 red, 2x Sherry

Tasted Monday, August 1, 2022 by Cailles with 92 views

Introduction

A few of us gathered with a some young wine professionals (with impressive skill sets) to drink a few mature wines. Focus on 1964 reds, with a few whites before (no notes for a slightly faulty 1983 Scharzhofberger Kabinett Versteigerung from Egon Muller, and an over the hill Chapin & Landais Vouvray 1966) and two exceptional Sherries after. Thanks GH for organizing and inviting us.

Flight 1 (8 Notes)

  • 2006 Domaine Leflaive Puligny-Montrachet 1er Cru Les Folatières Flawed

    France, Burgundy, Côte de Beaune, Puligny-Montrachet 1er Cru

    Tasted double blind. Pale, bright citrus color. I guessed this to be a Northern Rhone white due to the perfumed and floral notes, despite the high citrusy acidity, which seemed too pronounced and out of character. Overall a bit weird but quite interesting, I would have rated this around 92/93 pts. As a white Burgundy, this was clearly faulty (but to me, it didn‘t feel like other premoxed bottles and the pale, bright color was not one of a premoxed Burg).

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  • 1964 Château Angélus 95 Points

    France, Bordeaux, Libournais, St. Émilion Grand Cru

    Five 1964 reds. All tasted blind. Rioja for the win! The 1964 Rioja vintage is just magical. Clear winner and WOTN, the Rioja Alta Ardanza Reserva Especial (98 pts). Highly complex, ever changing, clean and precise, very Burgundian. Next Angelus (95 pts), perfectly mature, elegant, pure Bordeaux missing just a bit more substance for an even higher rating. Third, CVNE Vina Real Reserva Especial (94 pts) a bit past its peak with hyper intense and intriguing coffee/malty and nutty notes. Finally, two solid Burgundies. Louis Remy Chambertin (92 pts) showed very young, with almost new world-like, ripe fruit and sweetness which was a bit perplexing. The Leroy d’Auvenay (90 pts) had a good structure but was not harmonious and clean enough.

    TN: Medium+ expressive nose with leather, truffles, dark fruit, some hints of brett. Intriguing and well delineated. On the palate a bit less well delineated at first but with increasing purity with more air. A good sweetness, beautiful minerality, full tertiary aromas adding complexity and creating a wonderful aromatic balance. Very fine tannins, good tension and freshness and beautiful creaminess. Good length. Easily iedentifiable as Bordeaux and one you could drink the whole bottle alone. Much better than a magnum of this I’ve had last year which didn’t have the purity but especially the tertiary complexity.

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  • 1964 Maison Leroy Bourgogne 90 Points

    France, Burgundy, Bourgogne

    Five 1964 reds. All tasted blind. Rioja for the win! The 1964 Rioja vintage is just magical. Clear winner and WOTN, the Rioja Alta Ardanza Reserva Especial (98 pts). Highly complex, ever changing, clean and precise, very Burgundian. Next Angelus (95 pts), perfectly mature, elegant, pure Bordeaux missing just a bit more substance for an even higher rating. Third, CVNE Vina Real Reserva Especial (94 pts) a bit past its peak with hyper intense and intriguing coffee/malty and nutty notes. Finally, two solid Burgundies. Louis Remy Chambertin (92 pts) showed very young, with almost new world-like, ripe fruit and sweetness which was a bit perplexing. The Leroy d’Auvenay (90 pts) had a good structure but was not harmonious and clean enough.

    TN: Nose a bit murky, not well defined. Better on the palate with minty freshness, herbs, some animalic notes, bacon fat. But only medium precision as well. Fine tannins, good tension, acidity not perfectly integrated. Overall solid effort, missing a bit of harmony, precision and the oomph factor. 90/91 pts.

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  • 1964 C.V.N.E. (Compañía Vinícola del Norte de España) Rioja Viña Real Reserva Especial 94 Points

    Spain, La Rioja, La Rioja Alta, Rioja

    Five 1964 reds. All tasted blind. Rioja for the win! The 1964 Rioja vintage is just magical. Clear winner and WOTN, the Rioja Alta Ardanza Reserva Especial (98 pts). Highly complex, ever changing, clean and precise, very Burgundian. Next Angelus (95 pts), perfectly mature, elegant, pure Bordeaux missing just a bit more substance for an even higher rating. Third, CVNE Vina Real Reserva Especial (94 pts) a bit past its peak with hyper intense and intriguing coffee/malty and nutty notes. Finally, two solid Burgundies. Louis Remy Chambertin (92 pts) showed very young, with almost new world-like, ripe fruit and sweetness which was a bit perplexing. The Leroy d’Auvenay (90 pts) had a good structure but was not harmonious and clean enough.

    TN: Very intense, expressive bouquet. Malty, nutty, intense, ripe dark fruits and a strong herbal note. Some faint hints of oxidation but well contained. Super intense on the palate, same intense aromas, all very well delineated. Good harmony, creaminess and tension. Good length, intense, expanding finish. I’ve had this wine once before (rated 100 pts) and it was one of the best wines I’ve had to date - superb freshness, highest possible complexity, ever changing. This bottle was clearly more advanced but you could see all the substance, intensity and precision that make this vintage so special.

    Decanting: Double decanted 2 hours before consumption. Followed over two more hours with little change. The other, perfect bottle needed quite a lot of air to reach its peak. This bottle not.

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  • 1964 La Rioja Alta Rioja Viña Ardanza Reserva Especial 98 Points

    Spain, La Rioja, La Rioja Alta, Rioja

    Five 1964 reds. All tasted blind. Rioja for the win! The 1964 Rioja vintage is just magical. Clear winner and WOTN, the Rioja Alta Ardanza Reserva Especial (98 pts). Highly complex, ever changing, clean and precise, very Burgundian. Next Angelus (95 pts), perfectly mature, elegant, pure Bordeaux missing just a bit more substance for an even higher rating. Third, CVNE Vina Real Reserva Especial (94 pts) a bit past its peak with hyper intense and intriguing coffee/malty and nutty notes. Finally, two solid Burgundies. Louis Remy Chambertin (92 pts) showed very young, with almost new world-like, ripe fruit and sweetness which was a bit perplexing. The Leroy d’Auvenay (90 pts) had a good structure but was not harmonious and clean enough.

    TN: Wonderful intense nose. Superb, right from the go. Jumping out of the glass. On the palate bright red fruit, some cola notes, stems, beautiful minerality. Superb structure, so fine, so round, wonderful long finish. With time blue fruit, some toasty notes. Ever so slightly changing. Wow. Tasting it blind I and most others were convinced that this must be a Burgundy. This bottle was lightyears ahead of a bottle of the same lot a year ago in almost every category (complexity, precision, expressiveness, harmony).

    Decanting: Double decanted 2 hours before consumption. Followed over two more hours. Right after opening this was a bit shy. In the two hours after double decanting the bottle the wine gained a lot of substance, concentration and become so much more harmonious. It needed air.

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  • 1964 Domaine Louis Remy Chambertin 92 Points

    France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Chambertin Grand Cru

    Five 1964 reds. All tasted blind. Rioja for the win! The 1964 Rioja vintage is just magical. Clear winner and WOTN, the Rioja Alta Ardanza Reserva Especial (98 pts). Highly complex, ever changing, clean and precise, very Burgundian. Next Angelus (95 pts), perfectly mature, elegant, pure Bordeaux missing just a bit more substance for an even higher rating. Third, CVNE Vina Real Reserva Especial (94 pts) a bit past its peak with hyper intense and intriguing coffee/malty and nutty notes. Finally, two solid Burgundies. Louis Remy Chambertin (92 pts) showed very young, with almost new world-like, ripe fruit and sweetness which was a bit perplexing. The Leroy d’Auvenay (90 pts) had a good structure but was not harmonious and clean enough.

    TN: This was a highly unusual wine. Right from the go, the wine was dominated by a very intense and very, very ripe dark red fruit and darker fruit core. Blind I would have guessed this to be a probably 10-20 year old Pinot Noir, probably a New World one! The structural frame showed mature and nicely integrated with round velvety tannins, a good freshness and a creamy texture, the aroma profile and intensity, as well as the (almost complete) absence of ageing aromas threw me off a bit. In addition, the fruit was so dominating that not much more aromas were recognizable, so it was rather simple. Only with a lot of time in the glass this settled down a bit, but remained rather (too) sweet. 91/92 pts. Correct bottle?

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  • 2011 Alvear Montilla-Moriles Pedro Ximénez de Añada 93 Points

    Spain, Andalucía, Montilla-Moriles

    Two sherries tasted side by side. The Tore Albala Don PX 1955 (94 pts) was narrowly ahead of the Alvear Montilla-Moriles PX de Anada 2011 (93 pts). Both showed very intense and expressive, highly complex with lots of very well defined, unusual (for me as a non-Sherry drinker) aromas, excellent concentration and a not overbearing sweetness with a high acidity keeping the wines light and fresh. I didn’t take more detailed notes on the wines, but the Albala showed infinite complexity and precision, while the Alvear showed a tad fresher, lighter and rounder. Overall, these wines are a big pleasure intellectually but you have to like the specific aroma profile, especially the raisiny aromas (I don't). In addition you should not consume the wines too warm in order to contain the alcohol heat. Sherry lovers will rate them higher but my expectations were certainly exceeded and I more than enjoyed drinking a glass of each (but still wouldn’t go for seconds).

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  • 1955 Bodegas Toro Albala Don PX Convento Selección 94 Points

    Spain, Andalucía, Montilla-Moriles

    Two sherries tasted side by side. The Tore Albala Don PX 1955 (94 pts) was narrowly ahead of the Alvear Montilla-Moriles PX de Anada 2011 (93 pts). Both showed very intense and expressive, highly complex with lots of very well defined, unusual (for me as a non-Sherry drinker) aromas, excellent concentration and a not overbearing sweetness with a high acidity keeping the wines light and fresh. I didn’t take more detailed notes on the wines, but the Albala showed infinite complexity and precision, while the Alvear showed a tad fresher, lighter and rounder. Overall, these wines are a big pleasure intellectually but you have to like the specific aroma profile, especially the raisiny aromas (I don't). In addition you should not consume the wines too warm in order to contain the alcohol heat. Sherry lovers will rate them higher but my expectations were certainly exceeded and I more than enjoyed drinking a glass of each (but still wouldn’t go for seconds).

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