Not as unbalanced as what previous notes suggested until a few hours in when it fell apart into a menthol mess. Lovely on opening, guessed new world from the sweet cherry fruit but couldn't put a finger on the grape. Very ripe fruits but not overly extracted and the oak had integrated for this bottle at least. Hedonistic wine that was very enjoyable but do not expose it to too much air.
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Saturday soiree is back due to lockdown again. 3 amazing wines starting with this superb and still too young 90 Armagh. its been 20+ years since i have tried an Armagh, let alone a cracking vintage of 1990. From my cellar and in perfect condition. Colour belied its age, still deep red/purple. This was not very Clare like at all compared to , say, Wendouree. None of that eucalyptus, menthol and red fruits, it was more like a cross between 1990 grange and 1990 Rockford BP. it was very chocolaty, blackberry and ripe damson plum. sweet, long, smooth in the mouth. Sweetness lasting a good minute in the after taste. perfectly balanced. Better than 1990 grange easily. Absolutely stunning. The 3 other boys all said late 90's Barossa shiraz. And this is understandable. Anyway, rather rare to see old vintages of Armagh now but well worth getting if you can find them. Yummy stuff. But alas my last bottle. ( the other two wines consumed were 1994 Basket Press - 97 and an Phantasmagorical Ethereal 1991 Rockford Cabernet - 98)
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Remarkable youthful in appearance for a 26 year old time - dark garnet with an opaque core - no bricking whatsoever. Nose is alluring, with dark plums, prunes, herbs and a hint of chocolate, speaks and does not shout. Palate is a bit loose nit (perhaps ambient temperature higher than desirable), medium to full bodied, plums, dark cherries, leather, spirity midpalate is unfortunate. With the exception of that spirit note, everything has tied together well, oak has been swallowed up. Good length.
Based on this bottling, unsure if much to be gained from further ageing, however this will hold for a long time - another 5 years easy.
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Pre-Christmas Offline (Market Restaurant, Manchester): 14.4% Superb nose, with leather, talcy minerality and soft black fruits. Superb open palate. Very big, but also very balanced and remarkably elegant. Superb stuff. Excellent.
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NobleRottersSydney - 1990 night (Lucio's, Paddington): 14.4% Deep red. A monolithic nose somewhat dominated by coconutty American oak. There’s quality chocolate-peppermint fruit underneath, but it struggles to emerge from beneath the wall of fine but immensely strong tannins. An impressive if slightly controversial wine, and demonstrating very little of its 14 years, this needs considerably more time. Hopefully the tannins will soften out before the fruit fades – I think it will be a close race, and the ideal drinking window will possibly be quite small. It’s easy to see how it took Grange as a model
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7/25/2021 - melvinyeowq wrote:
Not as unbalanced as what previous notes suggested until a few hours in when it fell apart into a menthol mess. Lovely on opening, guessed new world from the sweet cherry fruit but couldn't put a finger on the grape. Very ripe fruits but not overly extracted and the oak had integrated for this bottle at least. Hedonistic wine that was very enjoyable but do not expose it to too much air.
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5/30/2021 - yodamark Likes this wine: 97 Points
Saturday soiree is back due to lockdown again. 3 amazing wines starting with this superb and still too young 90 Armagh. its been 20+ years since i have tried an Armagh, let alone a cracking vintage of 1990. From my cellar and in perfect condition. Colour belied its age, still deep red/purple. This was not very Clare like at all compared to , say, Wendouree. None of that eucalyptus, menthol and red fruits, it was more like a cross between 1990 grange and 1990 Rockford BP. it was very chocolaty, blackberry and ripe damson plum. sweet, long, smooth in the mouth. Sweetness lasting a good minute in the after taste. perfectly balanced. Better than 1990 grange easily. Absolutely stunning. The 3 other boys all said late 90's Barossa shiraz. And this is understandable. Anyway, rather rare to see old vintages of Armagh now but well worth getting if you can find them. Yummy stuff. But alas my last bottle. ( the other two wines consumed were 1994 Basket Press - 97 and an Phantasmagorical Ethereal 1991 Rockford Cabernet - 98)
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8/3/2019 - rgawlowski Likes this wine: 94 Points
Even with a disintegrated cork, wonderful. Old school i acidity and palate, reserved fruit, classy nose. Great balance.
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8/12/2016 - lightning wrote: 91 Points
Hmm. My bottle had ABV as 13.6% for this.
Remarkable youthful in appearance for a 26 year old time - dark garnet with an opaque core - no bricking whatsoever. Nose is alluring, with dark plums, prunes, herbs and a hint of chocolate, speaks and does not shout. Palate is a bit loose nit (perhaps ambient temperature higher than desirable), medium to full bodied, plums, dark cherries, leather, spirity midpalate is unfortunate. With the exception of that spirit note, everything has tied together well, oak has been swallowed up. Good length.
Based on this bottling, unsure if much to be gained from further ageing, however this will hold for a long time - another 5 years easy.
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11/24/2006 - andrewstevenson.com wrote: 95 Points
Pre-Christmas Offline (Market Restaurant, Manchester): 14.4%
Superb nose, with leather, talcy minerality and soft black fruits. Superb open palate. Very big, but also very balanced and remarkably elegant. Superb stuff. Excellent.
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8/2/2004 - graemeg wrote:
NobleRottersSydney - 1990 night (Lucio's, Paddington): 14.4% Deep red. A monolithic nose somewhat dominated by coconutty American oak. There’s quality chocolate-peppermint fruit underneath, but it struggles to emerge from beneath the wall of fine but immensely strong tannins. An impressive if slightly controversial wine, and demonstrating very little of its 14 years, this needs considerably more time. Hopefully the tannins will soften out before the fruit fades – I think it will be a close race, and the ideal drinking window will possibly be quite small. It’s easy to see how it took Grange as a model
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