Community Tasting Notes (40) Avg Score: 95.7 points

  • Completely impenetrable colour- sump oil, super thick and viscous, more like syrup than wine! The incredibly powerful and intense nose leaps out of the glass- treacle, alpine herbs, dates, burnt toffee, coffee, molasses, cough medicine! Gordon’s description “like the most vivid sunset during a bushfire” and I have to agree!
    Utterly overwhelming in a good way. Palate follows on- so intense and rich, but not cloying or overdone. I can literally taste this for minutes after swallowing. Just perfection and an incredible experience. What a wine to finish on. Rounding out the wines above was always going to be a mammoth task, but this wine has done it perfectly, and comfortably.

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  • Wow, this was dense and concentrated; lovely nose of date bread and spices; rich and thick with a syrup like texture on the palate; very sweet, but interesting and very enjoyable. You only need a tiny glass, but its tasty

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  • What more to say, perfect. So concentrated and tasteful. Unlike all other wine I drunk.

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  • Sorghum and balsamic with a fascinating fresh, floral, herbal topnote. Instead of being dull and leaden like wines of this magnitude can be, there was a freshness here that's surprising.

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  • an amazing wine on an amazing night
    the creme brûlée went along so well
    so different was the 1963 port but almost it's equal
    other notes describing chocolate plums and figs are not incorrect
    not so sure about the cinnamon however

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  • The two most recent notes below describe it very well. Indeed, it’s cinnamon chocolate — and “round.” We’ve never seen a wine coat the inside of a glass like this — reminiscent of thin molasses. This 375 was opened this 12 weeks ago, and then we had small pours on average about once a week over that period. Absolutely no degradation over that time. What an amazing creature.

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  • really floral and fragrant, lovely and exotic spices, cinnamon, dried figs, and plum. Amazingly round and sweet on the palate.

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  • So we were preparing to celebrate our good friends Michael & Leslies %*th wedding anniversary which is in the beginning of next month. After dinner I suggested we have a small toast. So I poured us each a small glass and we toasted. This bottle was opened on Fathers Day 2021 and is still absolutely Outstanding. No degradation whatsoever and while not as good as the 1946 it is a very close second. Swirling flavors of dates, fig, plum, dark cherry and chocolate with a never ending finish. The best thing is that you cannot drink too much so I will still have plenty in fridge to take a glass now and then without worrying about deterioration. Its just amazing. I can't wait to try the 1931 or the 1910.

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  • Grapes for Great Causes: Older SQN and SE Flight ‘06-‘09 (Les Nomades Chciago): Black syrup, dense color, super rich flavor, palate lasting, so good, will last for decades. BUY

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  • 5x 1964 red, 2x Sherry: Two sherries tasted side by side. The Tore Albala Don PX 1955 (94 pts) was narrowly ahead of the Alvear Montilla-Moriles PX de Anada 2011 (93 pts). Both showed very intense and expressive, highly complex with lots of very well defined, unusual (for me as a non-Sherry drinker) aromas, excellent concentration and a not overbearing sweetness with a high acidity keeping the wines light and fresh. I didn’t take more detailed notes on the wines, but the Albala showed infinite complexity and precision, while the Alvear showed a tad fresher, lighter and rounder. Overall, these wines are a big pleasure intellectually but you have to like the specific aroma profile, especially the raisiny aromas (I don't). In addition you should not consume the wines too warm in order to contain the alcohol heat. Sherry lovers will rate them higher but my expectations were certainly exceeded and I more than enjoyed drinking a glass of each (but still wouldn’t go for seconds).

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  • From 375. A unique tasting experience with a nice nose of fig, ummie and almonds. Black and thick. A wine made for sipping and contemplating. Luxurious mouthfeel and a Finish goes on forever. One of the best desert wines I have had. How often can you try a wine that spent around 60 years in barrel? If you get a chance buy a bottle and share it with good friends. Not quite as good as the 1946 but still outstanding.

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  • like they all said...delicious nose. amazing, toungue-coating viscosity.

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  • By the glass pour at Patria in Toronto. Opaque, thick brown. A fair amount of varnish, but also fig, prune, salted caramel, and grilled walnuts. Dense and very sweet, but kept alive by excellent acidity. Great balance for what it is and excellent length. Well worth the tariff.

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  • So it was my good friend Michael's ##th birthday. We went with our wives to dinner at my club where we drank a 2009 Spottswood and a 2012 Backus for dinner. When we came back to the house after dinner I suggested we have a small toast to his birthday. So I poured us each a small glass and we toasted. This bottle was opened on Fathers Day 2021 and is still absolutely Outstanding. No degradation whatsoever and while not as good as the 1946 it is a very close second. Swirling flavors of dates, fig, plum, dark cherry and chocolate with a never ending finish. The best thing is that you cannot drink too much so I will still have plenty in fridge to take a glass now and then without worrying about deterioration. Its just amazing. Happy Birthday Michael.

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  • Method: pop and pour; chilled; white wine glass

    Look: dark brown/black; completely coats glass

    Nose: coffee, fig, coffee cake, brown sugar, molasses, tar, Manhattan, burnt orange peel, chocolate, Tootsie Roll, toasted pecan, burnt sugar, raisin; very complex

    Palate: raisin, fig, dark cherry; long+ finish of brown sugar, sugared raisins, coffee, mocha, chocolate, Tootsie Roll, cherry cough medicine, light burnt orange; high- sweetness; full body; high+ acidity; medium+ heat

    Overall thoughts: This is a super interesting and complex wine, but I think I appreciated it a bit more than I enjoyed it, largely due to a decent amount of heat coming through and a bit of a medicinal note. Maybe I would like it more if it was chilled more. However, I did really enjoy this wine as it's incredibly full, concentrated, and intense, yet wonderfully balanced with very high acidity so it is never too much. Great wine.

    While I score wine on its own, not with food, this wine is absolutely bananas when paired with ice cream / ice cream desserts. I paired it with vanilla ice cream and it was awesome, but I later paired it with a hazelnut ice cream + chocolate + spice etc. crazy dessert at Melisse and it was out of this world. This is probably the first dessert wine I like better with sweet desserts, but it's an outstanding pairing.

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  • From the bottle I opened on Fathers Day. It is still absolutely outstanding. Again not as good as the 1946 but a very close second. Swirling flavors of dates, fig, plum, dark cherry and chocolate with a never ending finish. Michael and I both took a small glass and put the bottle back in the fridge. I will probably bring it out again for my Halloween dinner.

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  • San Diego Superspeader 2021 (Solare Restaurant, Liberty Station, Point Loma, San Diego CA): Decanted for sediment, as recommended on the label, but there was virtually no sediment. Made from white grapes, this wine is now the color of black coffee or used motor oil, with viscosity closer to the latter than the former. Endlessly complex aromas and flavors of raisins, molasses, treacle, coffee, rum, Kahlua, Godiva chocolate liqueur. Very sweet but easy to sip, not cloying, somehow manages to be fresh and electrifying. Excellent with either chocolate or non-chocolate dessert. My #1.

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  • I just love this kind of stuff. Christmas cake and camphor, so long lasting. Unctuous delight.

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  • Opened bottle before dinner for some airation and was excellent. Great aroma and a raisin finish taste. Drank it with 3 people born in 1955 and a special treat. Have a few more on cellar for special friends

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  • Absolutely Outstanding. Not as good as the 1946 but a very close second. Swirling flavors of dates, fig, plum, dark cherry and chocolate with a never ending finish. The best thing is that you cannot drink too much so I will have plenty in fridge to take a glass now and then without worrying about deterioration. It should last to Xmas.

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  • This was absolutely outstanding. Lots of chocolate on the nose and pallet. Everyone loved this. One of the most unusual and impressive desert wines we have ever had. Highly recommend. You want to just keep smelling this but the pallet is great too.

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  • from imperial - really intense on the palate, sooo raisiny, lots of minty herbs. Very sweet as expected, like syrup.

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  • Not quite as magical as the 1946, this still has a beautiful sweetness that is not cloying with notes of apricot, fig and plum.

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  • PnP, tasted after 1 and 3 hours glass time. Impenetrable, black/mahogany color with deep purple edge. Very minor sediment. Thick, long, stained legs. Wow, this is weird stuff and not at all what I was expecting considering a white grape. Definitely a dessert wine (if you call this wine), similar to port or sherry but without the strong barrel influence. For sure the most intense, concentrated, powerful drink of this type I've ever had. Unbelievably complex and varied tasting traits, fig, ripe plum, prune, liquorish, tobacco, apricot, earth. Very strong, so much so I could hardly deal with the big boozy nose. Rich, thick, creamy with still hints of fruit and acid. Mouth coating finish that lasts forever. Almost too strong for my tastes but so worth trying. Special as it's my birth year and celebrating my 65 birthday. This will age forever if properly stored. Hard to say if there was anything off as I just don't know. Unreal experience. Bottled in 2014, just under 17%. I can not rate this. $225 through wine broker.

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  • Leap Day dinner Trelio's (Clovis Ca.): Wild stuff here...candied fruits, molasses, fig jam, nuts, licorice...really rich plum pudding...christmas spice, pipe tobacco. While very viscous, it is lifted nicely with acidity and an aged balsamic vinegar tang. Glass staining, mouth coating...finish for days! Definitely drink these at the end!

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  • From a small 200ml bottle. Dark mahogany colour. On the nose, aromas of molasses, coffee, liquorice, plum jam, figs, nuts, spices, balsam, smoke, cocoa. There are also touches on the palate from what appears to be flora, as if this was a fino or an amontillado. Spicyness. Potent attack, with the aromas found on the nose. Sweet, yes, but with a good acidity as well as bitterness, which adds to the balance and makes this pleasant to drink. An ethereal note that is also found on the length. Though I have a slight preference for the 1945, which is a touch lighter and has a wonderful brown tobacco aroma, this is probably the best PX I have had, wrt to intrinsic qualities. Looking forward to tasting the 1931. 94-95

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  • PR 1969 Extravaganza: Sultana, coconut, caramel and kerosene on the nose. Sweet, intense with caramel punch and great length. A delicious end to the evening.

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  • WIML95

    Madison offline.

    Tasted non blind. Opened and served immediately. Followed over about one hour.

    Dark brown color in the glass, fairly opaque looking. Nose of molasses, almond oil and melted black licorice. Big rich flavors of sorghum and black licorice framed over a nutty, long finish. Medium acidity, full bodied. Drink or hold.

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  • a perfect ending to a spanish evening
    looks like it was bottled and released in 2014
    sweet complex elegance
    a mix of sherry and madeira
    being from my birth year made this extra special

    will try and save the next bottle for a 1955 tasting event

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  • A rare treat. Ready to drink now. Will keep developing for the next decade.

    Intense aromas of tobacco and Christmas cake and tar, followed by mocha, candied orange peel, raisins, stewed black fruits, leather, animal, forest floor. Extremely complex. A long finish with lingering tobacco, espresso, and Christmas cake. It’s so viscous it basically stains the glass. Such a treat. Great acidity.

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  • After trying several bottles of the 100-point 1946 in the past, tonight we opened a birthday bottle of 1955 for a friend. This vintage maintained the gossamer palate, perfect sweetness, and light body of the 1946 without quite as much magical spice. Still a beautiful wine if you're willing to pony up the tariff. Certainly great for a birth-year treat.

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  • A gift for my 60th, the crowd adored it. Raisins, tobacco, honey, prunes, toffee, brown sugar. Intensely sweet of course, but layers of flavor and very long finish. Rather viscous and glass-staining. Left an impression of something truly exotic. I have no idea how long this might last, but for now I'd say drink or hold. A rare treat.

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  • To be honest it is incredibly difficult to distinguish the 1955 from the 1946. For me they are nearly identical.

    But that is awesome

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  • Montilla-Moriles Showroom (Lavinia - Madrid): Once again from a 20 cl bottle. A minuscule drop. If you compare this with 1958 clearly it is less complex and a little more diluted. Considering the rest of the element is the same good stuff.
    I am really impressed by this Convento selection.

    Una vez más de una botellita de 20 cl, una gota minúscula. Si lo comparas con el de 1958 este es claramente menos complejo y un poco más diluido. Considerando el resto de elementos es la misma buena extracción.
    Realmente estoy impresionado por esta selección Convento.

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  • Dark brown colour.
    Nose: medium. Raisin, licquorice, black coffee, pipe tobacco.
    Palate: Pronounced intensity. Muscovado sugar, prune, dark chocolate, luscious, licquorice, tobacco, medium acidity with some freshness. Full bodied, long finish.

    Alc.: 16.5% abv
    Total acidity: 5.31g/l
    RS: 349.5g/l
    VA: 0.71g/l

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  • A very interesting liquid, not sure "wine" is the proper word. Very thick in texture, like an expresso coffee or a soup, with a brown color, leaves tears in the glass as it slowly drains back towards the bottom. On the nose, it actually smells like a very sweet Turkish coffee, with notes of raisins, orange peel, burnt sugar, toffee candies, vanilla. Coats the mouth and lingers, again with a dominating sweet flavor of raisins and mocha. Endless finish. People generally rate sweet wines very high, so think of this as 97 if you like. But I would say 92, actually, as an honest way to communicate my emotional response...

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  • GMs North Side - Midweeker: Raisins, curry leaf, licorice, cedar, graphite, cola, coconut and lemon. Beautifully sweet on the palate, the intensity is quite amped up across all the components and it feels well balanced as a result. The palate is not quite as complex as the nose, but still delicious to drink. Persists really well and will last for a long long time.

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  • The scheduled finish of our SATT dinner (there was one more surprise wine), this is another that should be in a category of its own. Viscosity of motor oil, flavors of candied fruits, chocolate covered raisin, coffee and honey - this should be enjoyed very slowly, savoring the remarkable quality

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  • Wow! Quite an experience.... Lush, rich, incredibly complex, finish lasts forever. Balsamic vinegar and black licorice are the dominant flavors that linger. Also lots of chocolate, candied orange, raisin, coffee. Worth every penny....

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  • DEEP RED COLOR ON THIS WHITE GRAPE, INCREDIBLY RICH AND SYRUPY. DARK CHOCOLATE AND MOLASSES IN THE NOSE. CHOCOLATE, COFFEE, AND SOME SPICE IN THE FLAVOR. COMPLEX WINE WITH A VERY LONG FINISH.

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