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Comments on my notes

(30 comments on 25 notes)

1 - 25 of 25 Sort order
Red
2017 Realm Cellars The Bard Napa Valley Red Bordeaux Blend
7/25/2023 - canan wrote:
94 points
A lot more closed than I would have expected. There is plenty of black currant fruit and leaves combined with a lovely acidity that provides a nice balance. But, the tannins are tightly knit and the flavors never really opens up…
  • canan commented:

    8/18/23, 6:24 AM - For me, it never really opened up despite getting a lot of air. I drank it over 3 days and it never showed the normal lush and expressive fruit that The Bard normally has..

Red - Fortified
2000 Fonseca Porto Vintage Port Blend
11/26/2022 - canan wrote:
94 points
Christmas BYO (Michaels House): Not served cold enough which caused a lower score than normal as the alcohol was disturbing the flavors.
  • canan commented:

    12/1/22, 8:58 AM - Around 10 C / 50 F

  • canan commented:

    12/5/22, 12:11 AM - It was decanted for 24 hours so it did not need any more :-) The wine was served at almost room temperature which made the whole experience very disjointed. I have tried the wine before where I gave it 95-97, so it was all about the temperature here. The wine was tasted blind which meant the "low" score. If the temperature had been on point, it would have merited at least 3-4 points higher.

Red - Fortified
1992 Fonseca Porto Vintage Port Blend
3/10/2022 - canan wrote:
95 points
Fonseca VP Vertical: Beautiful and expressive nose with dark berries, manure, sewer.
Lovely palate with dark plum/cherry fruit and mint but also a hard structure. Both tannins and acidity still feels very young.
It does however is starting to show a bit of evolution but it is still a young wine. Beautiful wine.
  • canan commented:

    12/5/22, 12:08 AM - 6-8 hours sounds like a good plan and it matches what I would do :-)

Red - Fortified
1970 Quinta do Noval Porto Vintage Port Blend
8/26/2022 - canan wrote:
96 points
Noval VP mini-vertical (P81): Intense and refreshing red cherry fruit with a touch of coffee and almonds. Great balance and wonderful intensity. Creamy mouthfeel and overall just an amazing wine! Loved it!
  • canan commented:

    9/22/22, 9:10 AM - About 2-3 hours!

Red
2009 Domaine du Pégau Châteauneuf-du-Pape Cuvée Réservée Red Rhone Blend
2/26/2022 - canan wrote:
94 points
Stunning example of an old-school CH9. Packed with sweet and bright raspberry fruit and a lovely intensity.
It explodes out of the glass with lots of barnyard funk, wet leaves and earth. Lovely acidity and depth and it has opened up very nicely.
The wine is certainly at a very good stage to drink right now and worth trying if you have the bottles but it will also continue to improve over time.
Loved it!! 94-95p
  • canan commented:

    3/2/22, 8:46 AM - Ha ha. Sorry, my bad! It is updated 😁

Red
2016 Hors Catégorie Vineyards Syrah Hors Catégorie Vineyard Walla Walla Valley
10/1/2021 - canan wrote:
95 points
US BYO (Esmee): Dark cherries, liquorice, coffee and different spices. Overall, a nice impression, but there was a wall of tannins and the wine never really opened up.
The aftertaste is highly bitter which is something that I normally don't enjoy. It didn't interfere with me as much this time, but it did feel like the wine was slightly off balance.
Still, not a bad wine. It just needs time!
  • canan commented:

    11/22/21, 11:31 AM - I gave it that rating because the quality was there for that score. Even if I wasn’t overly elicited about it, it still had an objective quality to it!

Red
2004 Casanova di Neri Brunello di Montalcino Cerretalto Sangiovese
5/7/2021 - canan wrote:
92 points
BYO - Erik: Very disappointing performance and the wine just seemed off. There was some good flavor but in general it seemed a bit cooked, showing cabbage and "brown" notes. There was however still some sweet cherry fruit and a good structure but the overall impression was not good.
A bit strange with a defective bottle like this as I have had it since release.
It could also be that it was in some kind of weird phase which I sometimes find with Brunellos.
  • canan commented:

    5/14/21, 1:34 AM - Paul,
    I understand that my words perhaps doesn't match the rating but I stand by what I have written. By "very disappointing" I am referring to the expectations of this wine based on my previous experiences. I would have expected a wine in the 95-98. range. I have tasted Cerretalto on numerous occasions, in several vertical tastings going back all the way to 1986/1988 and I have never before met this "brown" notes in the wines. I have not tasted the 2004 vintage for some years and is currently worried that there might be an issue with the winemaking in this vintage. I am off course hoping that it is not and that the rest of my bottles will be amazing :-)

    With all that being said, there was a lot of things that worked for the wine which is why I ended up giving it 92p.

Red
2007 R. López de Heredia Rioja Reserva Viña Tondonia Tempranillo Blend, Tempranillo
2/6/2021 - canan wrote:
92 points
Classic and rustic in a very good way.
  • canan commented:

    2/9/21, 11:10 PM - Decanting is a good option but not necessary. Off course, it will benefit from a 30 min decant but I didn't see the wine improving a lot with more air.

White
2017 Domaine Rémi Jobard Meursault 1er Cru Le Poruzot-Dessus Chardonnay
9/16/2020 - canan wrote:
93 points
Needed about 1 hour of decanting to really open up but when it did, it was lush and wild. Lots of depth, with a lovely minerality and a good acidic punch.
Great stuff!
  • canan commented:

    9/23/20, 4:50 AM - My observations is that it can certainly keep and improve over the next 2-5 years. BUT, it is so tasty right now so I don't see a reason to wait a lot longer. Just decant and enjoy :-)

Red - Fortified
1981 Quinta do Noval Porto Colheita Port Blend
1/21/2016 - canan wrote:
85 points
Colheita Port 1981 (Portvinsklubben 1981): Walnut and coffee flavors but also a bit metallic with a touch of VA.
It also has a little orange but the aftertaste is to short and with time it just get worse and worse.
  • canan commented:

    7/15/19, 2:28 AM - Sorry for the late response! I don't think that there was something wrong with the bottle as such. It just didn't feel like it was any better than this. However, I could be wrong and the bottle could certainly be defective. It is always difficult with old ports.

Red - Fortified
1983 Taylor (Fladgate) Porto Vintage Port Blend
10/2/2018 - canan wrote:
91 points
Taylor VP Vertical with Roy Hersh: Quite sweet which is highly unusual, for me, for the Taylor VPs.
There are some lovely caramel and candied orange peel but the alcohol is dominating the wine leaving a bad impression.
The wine seems quite mature and highly unstructured. Disappointing.
  • canan commented:

    11/9/18, 5:40 AM - Hi Bandreas,

    I fully understand what you mean and I may have been a bit too generous but I still feel that it is a solid wine.
    Even though the alcohol is dominating it is still quite good. Maybe my note were written in a harsher tone because I tasted it against other Taylor wine which were just superior.
    Compared to other VPs I still feel that this wine deserves the points that I gave it.

    /Canan

Red
1988 Château Cos d'Estournel St. Estèphe Red Bordeaux Blend
6/30/2018 - canan wrote:
91 points
4x4 - Mini Tastings: Dusty and fragile with some fruit left but also some bitter chocolate.
Harsh tannins and not very pleasurable on its own.
  • canan commented:

    8/31/18, 5:36 AM - Agreed.. I was also surprised that the bottle didn't show better but it can be quite random sometimes with older Bdx bottles on the second-hand market. Hope to try a better version one day :-)

Red
2006 Casanova di Neri Brunello di Montalcino Tenuta Nuova Sangiovese
5/19/2018 - canan wrote:
96 points
BYO: This is pretty stunning wine when it performs and it certainly did on this occasion.
There is an enormous acidity that fits the very dark fruits nicely. Packed with tannins and in total this is a wine that is best served with food.
Despite that this is a very powerful wine, the lovely acidity makes a pleasure to drink. Lovely balance and med-long aftertaste.
Loved it!
  • canan commented:

    8/31/18, 3:59 AM - It was double decanted a 4-5 hours in advance.. So, first into a decanter, let it stand for 30 min and then back in the bottle for the rest of the time. Just allowing it to get a little bit of air and evolve slowly. Worked like a charm :-)

Red - Fortified
1977 Warre Porto Vintage Port Blend
10/26/2017 - canan wrote:
94 points
1977 Vintage Ports from MG (P81): Juicy young cherry fruit with a wonderful acidity and structure. The balance is amazing. Very nice wine.
From MG.
  • canan commented:

    5/24/18, 1:54 AM - Well, if you bought Magnums, I would say that they could easily keep for a long time (10+ years). They do however taste very good now and are a pleasure to drink. If you have them in normal bottles, I would recommend that you start drinking them now and over the next 5 years.

Rosé - Sparkling
2007 Louis Roederer Champagne Cristal Brut Rosé Champagne Blend
9/23/2016 - canan wrote:
96 points
BYO - Burgundy/Champagne (NO.2): Very young and sharp acidity with lots of fresh green apples and a beautiful raspberry fruit.
Certainly an impressive wine but clearly way too young! Needs at least 5-8 years more to really open up.
  • canan commented:

    5/22/18, 1:12 AM - The 07 Rose is certainly still very young and to get it to really show what it can do, I would probably wait a few more years. However, it is still a very impressive wine when young :-)

  • canan commented:

    5/22/18, 2:33 AM - Even though you prefer your Rose younger, I would still recommend that you wait 1-2 years before opening it. Just to allow it to open the aromatics. When I tasted it it was still very raw and young.

Red - Fortified
N.V. Agri-Roncão Porto DR - 10 Year Old Tawny Port Blend
9/21/2017 - canan wrote:
85 points
4 x 50 Years (10 and 40 YO Tanwy) from the same producers: Spicy caramel and a touch of red fruit. Short and watery aftertaste and the wine is overall a bit weird and to some extent a bit generic.
  • canan commented:

    5/14/18, 9:09 PM - I agree with you and have had similar experiences. But, my note refers to the newest bottling of the wine which is clearly different. The new bottling is only 2-3 months old and has a completely different epresssion of age!

  • canan commented:

    5/15/18, 1:50 PM - Unfortunately it isn’t :-(
    I did the tasting with the producer and he admitted that he had changed the blend..

  • canan commented:

    5/17/18, 2:06 AM - @Corkdork. I have to admit that I have made mix-up with the wines. My comments refer to a Rio Bom 10Y Tawny and not the DR. I apologize for this. However, the DR did not show as expected and I do not believe that there was any defects with the bottle so I stand by my original tasting note. My own experience with the "new" port makers are that they do sometimes change the style of their tawnies as they run out of the original mother-wine (colheita base) and are forced to modify their tawny style accordingly.

Red
2005 Faustino Rioja I Gran Reserva Tempranillo Blend, Tempranillo
12/23/2017 - canan wrote:
91 points
Nice acidity and freshness with a lovely raspberry fruit.
  • canan commented:

    2/15/18, 2:26 AM - sorry for the late reply. I paired with with Chicken and a slightly sweet sauce which it easily handled. Even though it is a "light" flavored wine it has lots of acidity to handle a lot of different foods.

Red
1989 Bruno Giacosa Barolo Riserva Falletto di Serralunga d'Alba Nebbiolo
1/22/2016 - canan wrote:
flawed
Piedmont and Champagne - Round 2 (MG): Lots of soy and a little leather/coffee but not a lot of flavor. Pretty dry.
After the bottle was revealed it was clear that this bottle must have been defective!!
  • canan commented:

    11/11/16, 1:56 PM - I agree :-)

  • canan commented:

    2/15/18, 2:24 AM - I concur! I will update the note :-)

Red
1989 Château de Beaucastel Châteauneuf-du-Pape Red Rhone Blend
9/20/2014 - canan wrote:
97 points
Chateauneuf Du Pape 1990 Horisontal (@Terkel): An outrageously good bottle!! Deep and full-bodied with and impressive acidity.
Still a very young wine but it still has that outstanding balance...
  • canan commented:

    8/16/16, 7:02 AM - I remember it as being an auction bottle...

Red
1990 Cerbaiola (Salvioni) Brunello di Montalcino Sangiovese
4/27/2012 - canan wrote:
97 points
Brunello 1990 Horisontal Tasting (@ Canan): Very very impressive nose that is hugely intense and just packed with complex impressions; sewer, eucalyptus, coffee, smoke, tart cherries, cranberries and rusty minerals.
The palate is equally impressive and is dominated by a cranberry style fruit and a little red currants. The age shows as mushrooms and forest floor in the mid-palate.
An incredible wine that turned out to be as good as I had hoped for. The complexity and purity is just impressive
Everything is fully integrated in a pure and impressive expression of Sangiovese.
One of the best Brunello's I have have ever tasted!
  • canan commented:

    5/5/16, 6:05 AM - Good to hear!! A wonderful wine!!

Red
2012 Calera Pinot Noir Ryan Vineyard Mount Harlan
9/12/2015 - canan wrote:
92 points
Lovely and showing some raspberry fruit but it was not as dense as I would have expected. It is showing some sweetness due to the the warmth of the vintage.
Based on other notes I would have expected more a more extreme and fruit forward, compact, wine but the fruit was more restrained in my case.
I am not sure of if this could have been an off bottle, due to the lack of fruit, or perhaps being affected by bottle-shock.
Unfortunately it was not showing the depth I had expected but still, very easy to drink and overall a lovely wine.
  • canan commented:

    9/21/15, 11:04 PM - I agree and this was a surprise to me as well based on the notes I had read. Looking at my tasting note I can see that I perhaps emphasized the lightness of the wine which actually wasn't my intention. I barele meant that the fruit was not dense or compact, which I would have expected. However, I could not rule out if the lightness of the fruit was related to bottle-shock or even an off bottle. I will make some adjustments in my tasting note so that this is more clear.

Red
2009 Alban Vineyards Syrah Lorraine Edna Valley
5/9/2015 - canan wrote:
96 points
SQN - Legends: Alban style with jammy blackberry jam and plenty of vanilla and spices.
The wine is quite dense and nice if you like that style. Not a huge Lorraine but still a nice wine.
It did have an abundance of both sweetness and alcohol which didn't do it any favors in this vintage.
The lack of balance and structure made it seem a not very classic Lorraine and very more comparable to the Reva in this case.
Tasted as a blinder in SQN line-up so it did seem somewhat extreme and overly fruity but I still liked it for what it is.
  • canan commented:

    7/13/15, 4:55 AM - Hi Rudy,
    I actually haven't tasted the Reva 09 but in my experience with other vintages of Reva, the Lorraine is just a "better" wine. The Reva is usually an in-your-face style fruit with plenty of sweetness. The Lorraine on the other side also has lots of sweet fruit but is also a bit more restrained and a lot more balance. In my opinion the Lorraine is a more complete wine. I still like the Reva a lot but the Lorraine just has more nuances and structure.

Red
2012 Caymus Cabernet Sauvignon 40th Anniversary Napa Valley
1/26/2015 - canan wrote:
95 points
I certainly see what the drama is all about :-)
It is very extracted and concentrated but still a very decent wine with some qualities to it.
Plenty of almost dried blackberry fruit and with some air and at the proper temperature it does have the appropriate amount of acidity.
I can certainly understand why people feel the lack of tannins but I do believe that it is there behind all the extraction.
I don't believe that you can argue with the objective quality of the wine but definitely about whether or not you like the wine.
I liked it a lot but it is not one of my favorite wines :-)
  • canan commented:

    2/3/15, 4:56 AM - I certainly understand what you are asking and why.

    Basically, I try to write my opinion about the wine in the tasting note, e.g. whether or not I like the wine. Additionally, I try to give what I feel is a fairly objective score about what I feel the quality of the wine is. In this case I can see why there is so much dispute about this particular wine. Personally, this is how I understand the basic charter for the use of cellartracker and when I look at wines on and notes here I use both the points and what is written to determine anything about a wine.

    I certainly feel that there is some qualities about the wine which I would feel could merit a high score, like depth, intensity and balance but that doesn't mean that I necessary love the wine. For my personal use this is why I always write a tasting note so give my own opinion about it.

Red
1986 Château Rausan-Ségla Margaux Red Bordeaux Blend
6/6/2014 - canan wrote:
94 points
Bordeaux 1986 Horisontal Tasting: Juicy deep focused black currant fruit with a touch of pine.
Powerful tannins and an almost wild wine. Dense and rustic.
Still very impressive.
  • canan commented:

    7/23/14, 11:13 AM - I agree MarceloIdeses.. It is really of the best they have made!!

White - Sparkling
N.V. Bollinger Champagne Special Cuvée Brut Champagne Blend
5/21/2014 - canan wrote:
91 points
5 year old bottle and the age has really improved on creamy texture and shows lost of red apple flavors. At its peak but lovely with some age which is recommended!
  • canan commented:

    5/27/14, 2:57 AM - Hi Slimes,

    I had unfortunately already gotten rid of the bottle when I noticed your message. I did check the bottle but couldn't find any indication or numbers showing the disgorgement date but perhaps I didn't look hard enough. In any case, I am pretty sure that it was disgorged in 2009 as I bought from a place where the sell a lot of these bottles and they continuously get new allocations..

    Sorry that I couldn't help you out!

    Best Regards,
    /Canan

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