One needs to like old and very vinous champagnes as this is not longer a bobbly but barring the light sparkle every now and then this is a rich, well matured and soft oxidative wine. Rich but also balanced, honeysuckle, light savory feel. Light brioche and almost a truffle edge. Special but also risky as at this age there are only good bottles not good wines. We were very lucky to have had a proper one. 92-93-94 take a pick

Brought to dinner by the producer himself who gave us the full idea behind the philosophy and aim of this.
Grapes here come from six different terroirs from Veneto, Friuli and Trentino. Vinified separately by the local wineries and then Nicola Biasi makes the final blend.
Had we had this blind we would have thought this is a cool climate , sauvignon blanc , stainless steel made with a decent exposure to lees. Such was the feel and albeit they do use some new oak ( around 30%) the wine carries it well and lets the fruit shine. Impressive wine and really on the money now after one year with its fresh and bright feel and for sure a great find. 92 and lets see how these develop.

Bottle sourced directly by the winemaker. A cherished and celebrated wine and we can see why this is his labour of love.
100% Johanniter sourced from his own vineyard at 1000m in the dolomites ( the vineyard is actually 1000mx1000m too hence the designation on the label). Oak fermented and with full Malo-lactic fermentation. Further 11 months of ageing in new French oak barriques followed by 14 month-aging in bottle 941 bottles and 30 magnum total here.

The wine is young and the oak is at the forefront with a soft buttery rich feel . Floral, light mineral touch adn with a nice persistency without being an overdone or too powerful. Very pretty wine and one we would like to cross paths in the future when the oak is fully assimilated and the character of the fruit is more prominent. A 92 from us now but this has all the hallmarks to become a great one in the future.

After 4 very painful bad bottles and one good (Papies 93) we were lucky to see this a one of the the good ones albeit we are getting the feel that 1986 will never be the beautiful and softer, rounder beauty that the 1985 is today. Maybe the hotter vintage that was so celebrated in its youth is now showing the teeth.
This was even better than the one we had a month ago which was with a kiss of TCA . Bright, well tertiary, bright and full of life. Lacks a bit of elegance at times but a pretty solid bottle. 94

its been a long time since we crossed pats with the old friend. 8 whole years (Papies 92) and now this albeit still youthful and energetic is at the plateau of its peak.
We all said this is young! impressively so too. But its also a magnificent wine, with all the hallmarks of the classic 1996 left bank and that ever beautiful soft austerity and minerality of St Estephe. This is not a loud wine this is elegance personified for those who like us love the style of classic well aged St Estephe. Its no bellarina either as it has presence and strength. A magnificent wine and a privilege. 95-96

Its been 5 years since we had this (Papies 93) and a great wine indeed. Frankly we have had a lot of variability with Chapoutier Reds (Whites one need to have the forces of the universe with them especially post 5 years and frankly we avoid them) . This was great but also not great enough. It had all the hallmarks and the beauty but it also stopped short of being superb. Soft smoky, savory wine, elegant fruit, well balanced but we wanted fireworks. A solid 93

This arrived quite a bit late into a long wine flight and maybe was wasted a bit. There was a lactic feel to it which we wonder if this was a bit of Bret or other bacterial contamination so better we do not rate this time round. A massive wine still but not to the standard of the bossman.

We often forget ( we are vinsanto people) how beautiful these Greek sweet reds can be especially with a bit of age. This was no exception.
Sweet , ripe cherries, maraschino cherries in a way, soft balsamic reduction, jury and rich but also harmonious and elegant. A great first try on this as we believe was there first effort but true to the quality of the winemaking at Alpha Estate. 93