November 24, 2022 - Thanksgiving 2022 (Los Gatos, California): Same bottle as noted by EKessler below. Deep color for its age, a shade darker than a 1996 Grand Cru Burgundy drunk alongside it. Peppery, herbal, black fruit nose. Elegant medium weight. Similar flavors with all elements well meshed but not yet completely resolved. I got the sense that a bottle in this condition could still improve and sweeten with more time-amazing!!
November 24, 2022 - Amazing, excellent wine. Similar experience to that of AQUACONGAS. PNP. Cork soft/wet all through and even lost a bit into the bottle using Durand. Dark (for a Roija), minimal bricking. Sublime. One of the rare old bottles of Rioja without any funk.
May 23, 2021 - Tasted blind, this wine had a light red center and tawny rims. Right behind the medium intensity notes of plum, cola, black spices, and vanilla was some reduction and TCA.
In the mouth, this wine was medium bodied with light tannin, solid acidity, and very good length.
I would guess this bottle was about average after factoring out some of the impact of TCA in my score. I believe the issues with this bottle were not due to storage but due to production process problems. Thus, this wine will likely have a unusually high level of variability among bottles (91-97).
May 15, 2021 - Hedonism and Refinement at 60!; 5/14/2021-5/15/2021 (Joe and Kyla's Bar and Grill): Again, I would've been very happy if everything this night was this good! No sediment, as expected, this wine was "past brick" in color, someone said! Very mature nose with dried cherries, minerals, spice, dried tobacco, smoke and cedar. Better w/ food, than sipping.
May 15, 2021 - Lyon 2021 Birthday Bash; 5/14/2021-5/15/2021 (Bear Creek Woodward/Lyon Den): Birth year wine for my buddy Mark, with many other '61's, this struggled to stand up to the rest. Still good in its own right, notes of tobacco but slightly muted compared to the others. May be bottle variation, but the others just sung. Wouldn't kick it out of be for eating crackers though...
January 31, 2020 - Iberian Wimps (La Trompette, Chiswick): At last a good bottle of this! Garnet/mahogany. Classic Rioja nose - tobacco, leather. Light/medium bodied, elegant, leather, earth, fig, gentle tannins, balanced acidity, medium/good length finish. Not the longest or most complex but very enjoyable nonetheless.
September 25, 2019 - Best Bottle with Zachy's @FFF (Fritz Frau Frazi Düsseldorf): blind, side by side with Aldo conterno Barolo 1961 (blind)
The nose is amazing, red berries, truffles, violet, red berries, still fresh and vivid, perfect acidity and soft Tannins. it is getting better and better. I would never guess Spain, maybe Burgundy and from beginning 90ies. 98
June 7, 2019 - Hopelessly oxidised.
December 8, 2018 - Beautiful, luminous and thoroughly translucent cherry red color with aged maroon overtones and a deep ruby core. Very developed, savory and slightly umami nose with aromas of wizened red cherries, some sanguine iron tones, a little bit of dried cranberries, light redcurrant tones, a hint of beef jerky and an earthy yet sweet-toned touch of pipe tobacco. The wine is medium-bodied, quite tertiary and complex on the palate with dry flavors of wizened black cherries, some sour cherry bitterness, a little bit of tobacco, light raisiny tones, a sweeter hint of juicy dark berries and a meaty, umami touch of charred game and beef jerky. The wine is still enjoyably firm and structured with its high acidity and quite modest tannins that still retain some grip. The finish is gently grippy with long, dry and complex flavors of tart dark berries, some salty beef jerky, a little bit of wizened red cherry, light tobacco, an umami hint of soy sauce and a touch of raisin.
A beautiful, complex and so harmonious Rioja Gran Reserva. The wine was tasted alongside Tondonia Gran Reserva 1970, and while both wines felt relatively light in style, this managed to impress more by a small margin. An extraordinary wine and a testament to the aging capabilities of Tondonia Gran Reserva. Pricey at 100€, but I'd say this delivers for the price.
October 12, 2018 - Quite attractive strawberry marmalade tones, leather, subtle dark aromas, nice balance, some iron lurking at the back but not actually disturbing. Enjoyable.