2/21/2018 - RajivAyyangar wrote:

Kitchen Istanbul w/ Ben and Meg (Kitchen Istanbul, SF): This had a very short decant - just an hour as it was opened at the restaurant. It sang out as well as could be expected under the circumstances.

Classic Musarian nose - showing spicy dog fur (brett), bruised apple, balsamic, ethyl acetate, dried flowers. The fruit character is lighter black cherry and tart raspberry - consistent with my impression in the past that this is a more Burgundian style. However there was a hint of tertiary cassis - a tamari-blackberry note that's characteristic of mature Musar. The tertiary character seems to be maturing, and although not forceful right now, it may become so.

After approximately two hours, a darker, smokier, roasted blackberry note emerged - reminiscent of the reductively dark, almost burnt '72.

In the past I've characterized the '98 as a "Beautiful" styled Musar, similar to the 2000 and 2001, in contrast to the "Bold" 99,04,91, the "Atypical" 03,97, or the "Centered" 95, 94. For the '98, this may be merely a fact of its stage of maturity. It may blossom into a different character yet.

The palate was classic Musar: medium all around, with beautiful balance, integration, and length. No structural elements stood out. The tannins were melted and satiny.

5/16/2014 - McKraftyWino Likes this wine:

this is one of those wines where the standard rating system just doesn't work.
Rated as the experts do as a burgundy, as a classic representation of region, grape & vineyard one might rate it 90 or less.
HOWEVER i propose a second rating scale! Lets call it the BL scale (i invented it, i can call it what i want!)
BL scale is "Rate the wine based on presentation, beauty, how much you enjoyed it, how it tasted and lasted from first sip to last"
on the BL scale it is 100!
so we averaged the expert and BL scale to come to 95.
We fell in love with this wine 5 or so years ago when we got a case of it at a wine auction. Loved it every time we drank it.
Recently while digging around in the cellar we came across a couple more bottles.
Tasting notes: it has a baked brown sugar aftertaste, it is a very masculine wine (which is why experts might not like it as an echezeaux)
This wine is one of those 'outside the box' type wines..if you get a chance to try it, try it...you'll love it!

8/31/2016 - Jeff Leve wrote:

Really great expression of Napa in an elegant style. The fruit is perfectly ripe, generous, fresh and shows good purity. The tannins are round, soft and polished. The finish displays fleshy, ripe, juicy, sweet blackberry, boysenberry, dark chocolate and earthy notes. Everything is working here. This is drinking quite well today.

8/22/2015 - KenPlace wrote:

A lot of botrytis. Ginger, peach, apricot. Developing beautifully.

4/10/2013 - KenPlace wrote:

Amazing 37-year old bottle. Golden orange color, deep amber, beautiful color. Amazing complex notes of tropical fruits (pineapple), and spices. Very fruit forward for such an old wine. Great length. Still had another 37 years to go. Cork dissintegrated, but it was still moist.

11/27/2014 - KenPlace wrote:

Excellent depth and length. A touch hot on the finish.

5/21/2014 - nebbiolo722 Likes this wine:

This wine was NOT recalled. The winery tried to alert its customers that there was a higher level of sediment than normal in SOME bottles; I called my retailer and it looks like some journalists wrote their articles without fact-checking with the winery! My bottle had a little bit of sediment at the very end but I don't think it is a big deal to the informed consumer. However, I appreciate being informed. The bottle that I drank tonight was great: Full bodied, robust, bold black fruit balanced by fresh acidity and minerality. It is the best Pintia that I have ever tasted and it is my favorite wine from Toro. Many wineries making fine wine do not filter their wines to preserve flavor. While perhaps this wine was not star bright from massive filtering, I don't need that as I am drinking an artisinal wine.

Below are the changes from the press.

http://www.winemag.com/Vega-Sicilia-Wont-Release-2010-Alion/
Update: An earlier version of this article noted Vega Sicilia issued a recall on its 2009 Pintia. That is not the case and we regret the error.

http://www.decanter.com/news/wine-news/586782/vega-sicilia-offers-to-replace-100-000-bottles
This article was updated on 06/05/2014, exchanging the term 'recall' for 'offers to replace' and to make clear that Vega Sicilia has encouraged consumers to try decanting their bottles of Pintia 2009.

3/18/2014 - tooch wrote:

Chicago Rotating Dinner Series - March 2014 (Aged Rioja) (Paris Club - Chicago, IL): This was gorgeous. Drank about the same as the bottle that Izzy opened last year, with lots of rich fruit and vivid floral and earth notes underneath. While the flavors were feminine and lithe, the wine felt powerful.