April 19, 2024 - An amazing powerful bouquet of rose and tobacco and warm leather. Gentle and delicate on the palate with a medium body of dried fig.
November 25, 2023 - Liked other bottles, but this one was compromised; dtd
April 9, 2022 - Another excellent bottle of Faustino. Brilliant old Rioja.
November 13, 2021 - Cork was a little soft but the wine surprised me. Medium maroon with orange around the rim. These need to consumed soon in my opinion. Leather on the nose. Black cherry and tart cherry with savory notes on the palate. I picked up a trace of green bell pepper too. Still an enjoyable drink on a cold gloomy autumn evening.
August 1, 2021 - Definitely dead and well past any enjoyment level. I shared it with 3 others who all made bad faces and poured it out.
April 24, 2021 - Fully mature Rioja, maybe a few years past its peak, but still beautiful and will go until maybe 2025. Didn't need a long decant. One hour was sufficient. Gorgeous red/brown colour. What a treat to drink a 25-year-old wine for under $50! Fantastic QPR.
April 17, 2021 - This is still in a good spot and showed no signs of over aging.
January 8, 2021 - first bottle was horribly corked, but this was was fantastic. Very much an early mature rioja. Best after about 2 hours in a decanter. Wonderful red fruits, earth, pine, loam with some light herbal hints. Had the characteristic oak notes, but they were dimming. Very, very enjoyable. No real rush to drink this.
December 27, 2020 - To my surprise, I still had one bottle of this left in my cellar, and this is the best one yet. Still with a red center, but browning, as expected. Not decanted. The nose is still fresh on this one, with cherry and red fruit. Quite refreshing, actually. Tannins completely resolved, it shows nice red fruit with no off flavors. Not complex, but certainly enjoyable. Shows that Rioja can age quite well--probably the best bang for the buck in age-worthy wines, in my opinion. 4-12-15-8: 89/100.
October 2, 2020 - Decanted about an hour. No sediment Bright cherry, cured meat , dried mint , tea leaf , great acidity. Should continue to age well for awhile but won’t really add anything more than what’s in the bottle now. But aged rioja always amazes me. Not super complex but incredible bang for the buck. Under $30 for a 25 yrs old wine. You just can’t find that anywhere.
It is imperative you use an a-so to pull the cork. The corks seal well but fall apart when you use a regular corkscrew.
11/30/20
Second bottle wasn’t nearly as enjoyable. Cork completely disintegrated when I didn’t open with an a-so
6/16/21
Bottle 3 of a six pk Not as good as the first bottle but not as bad as the second. Cork showed leakage early in its life. Coffee, black tea. A little bit of band aid. Weirdly warm in the mouth even though only 13%+ alcohol. Not much fruit in the nose. But secondary fruit with a bit of cherry cola in the mouth. If tasted blind I’d guess an older northern rhone not named cote rote or hermitage. Is it enjoyable ? Kind of…
9/10/23
More like my first bottle, possibly better. color is starting to show its age getting orange brown. Still some wonderful fruit red cherry plum, some nice tannins and acidity is still lovely. The only thing really interesting about it is it is 27 yrs old. Its a good wine not great that ages well but remains a good not great wine.