November 28, 2022 - past it's prime
November 7, 2021 - Opened in am and decanted for sediment. Very much alive despite the rather brown color. Mature tertiary fruit, with leafy herbs and bit of mint. Held on reasonably well on night 2 as well. Quite nice.
November 7, 2021 - This bottle presented well. Browned bricking all the way to the center of the glass. Faded tar and shoe polish, it has some vegetal qualities but sweet roasted strawberry fruit pate carry the finish. Drink up!
June 27, 2021 - 1979 Birth Year Boys (Chez V): [Double decanted for a half hour at 2:30pm.] Cork is saturated, but the wine smells like it should with dark ripe fruit and forest floor. Drunk around 7pm. Classic Rabaja with lots of dark fruit and mulch. Excellent length. Impressive given that it's not considered a great vintage. Probably at its peak now.
April 4, 2020 - Similar to previous bottle. Put on weight with air. Good but lacking the depth to be at the top level ****
March 11, 2018 - Unfortunately, there was seepage. Wine was given off notes of what had been potential, but after a few hours the sour bite didn't fade. Have two more and praying they are in better shape.
October 20, 2017 - Drinking Produttori at Magdalena
An autumnal perfume with drying red fruits, some dried roses, porcini, and starting to have some soy. Very ferrous, it's really the primary aspect of this wine. The ferrous aspect is contrasted with wine that is pretty, softer, redder fruited, and more subtle than the '78. Plenty of umami and savory, fully mature, and very unlikely to improve. This is a very enjoyable wine that's only fault is the company in which it was opened. Interestingly, and not incredibly surprising, this was the wine in this flight that most improved and improved the poached quail egg and white truffle dish with which it was served. 91
August 13, 2017 - Double decanted about 2.5 hours pre serving and all he better for it - almost visibly put on weight. Mellow cherry with old leather, sweet spices, some orange peel and early forest floor notes. This was really beautiful and quite broad, fitting with the Rabaja profile. ****+
November 2, 2014 - Double-decanted. A good learning experience for being patient: after 4 hours I had doubts about the wine's condition, but after 7 hours it was lovely. Perhaps more astonishing on the mouth than the nose. It smelled smoky then of dried flowers. Pot-pourri with some cinnamon. Incredible texture and taste - like an extra dimension - so elegant and fresh, sour cherries, spices.