October 20, 2023 - Still young after 25 years: I love Almaviva! From the second case. All bottles have been a huge success so far. Now: Deep color, very fruity and complexity nose. Still strong. Dark berries dominate the palate together with notes of chocolate, cappuccino ( with some brown sugar), vanilla. Everything in deep harmony and balance. Long and silky finish with a wonderful sweetness. Enough power left for a couple of more years. No need to hurry with the rest of the case.
September 4, 2023 - I had drunk the 2014 in 2021 and I had not been convinced by the very heavy and cocoa-like style of this wine.
The nose is very autumnal, on dead leaves, undergrowth and fruit still very much alive in the background.
The palate is very harmonious, with a symbiosis between black fruit and tertiary notes. The attack is on the plum and the blueberry, in a coated way. The juice is dense, with a touch of vanilla that stands out, when the shift towards the tertiary notes of undergrowth takes place. It's pleasant, while being intense and sapid at the same time. We are far from the heaviness of the recent Almaviva. Delicate finish on mushrooms with melted tannins and a nice length.
A wine with Bordeaux accents, very mature and pleasant. Excellent.
February 26, 2022 - Open That Bottle Night (Mike's house): Pop and pour, there's some blue fruit but mostly red fruit. The wine is soft and friendly, still fruit forward, polished, friendly. The wine seemed to be falling apart after a couple hours.
February 26, 2022 - I figured this bottle would be really good, or really bad....CT had this bottle going downhill in 2010, and here we are in 2022. Fortunately, this bottle was really good! Fruit was present and lively and tertiary goodness was present in spades. This is a perfect example of the balance my palate enjoys, i.e., between fruit and tertiary flavors. On a scale, I would say this was 45% fruit and 55% tertiary.
The fruit was mostly dark fruit (cassis was probably the most dominant), with some blackberry and plum notes. The tertiary flavors included earth, bramble, some cedar and some tar notes, with hints of mushroom. This wine was a pleasant surprise and held together quite well throughout an hour of drinking it. 95+ for me, and much better than the 96 Lafleur next to it! Will likely keep a bit longer, but I wouldn't hesitate opening a bottle now! This was my only bottle.
December 25, 2020 - Deep garnet colored.
Beautiful nose with classic Bordeaux age signs, forest floor, barn yard and fall leaves.
On the palate; dark berries, cassis, oak. Lively acidity and nice harmonious tannins. Very well matured wine. This bottle was on fire on the night!
Big surprise. First time having the Almaviva. Definitely not the last!
November 14, 2015 - My friend asked / begged me to keep this bottle for a special occasion.
Last weekend we finally opened it up - in a group of longtime friends.
I was a bit sceptic, reading the comments and the drinking window ending 2010.
But boy - this was an incredible bottle of wine - totally not tired, still yielding.
I don't really have any exact tasting notes, only all in the group enjoyed this bottle.
It lasted for several hours, together with some other bottles we uncorked.
Good memories ... once again :-)
October 23, 2015 - opmerkelijk, nog echt genietbaar, klassieke bordeaux indruk, mooie ouderingstonen
November 22, 2013 - Well made, but there is a 'but'. The wine was lean, even a bit green, as if the potential of this vintage was limited. Still a very classy bouquet, a deep and sound colour and a good balance and aftertaste. Not my friend,but supporting the hare nicely.
October 3, 2013 - Clos du Stavanger monthly tasting Oct. 2013 - 1998 horisontal (Stavanger, Norway): Bretty nose, like a stable full of hippos(!) Beneath there is nice and very clean black currant fruit. Seductive, but the mineral component is missing to take this to another level. The brett is however partly making up for the missing complexity from the lack of minerality. The palate has lots of fruit, but is lacking in structure and caracter. Burning finish. Better nose than palate.
September 19, 2013 - Had a bottle at a good restaurant in Hong Kong. I have had most vintages of Almaviva but have no more 1998. Did grill the sommelier as I have never had the wine beyond 10 years of age. The cork was good and the colour still dark & robust. The nose was cherries and dark chocolate with some leather & tobacco. The palate was well developed but still rich and unctuous - matching the flavours of the nose. I was impressed it was aging so well.