KYD #2.4: What a wine to be served blind! It just explodes from the glass and feels very extreme and still quite youthful with the concentrated fruit! There is lots of dark plum fruit depth and still with a vibrant acidity and a touch of sweetness. Looking at the age, this is truly going to be a wine that will continue to impress for a very long time despite already being 25 years old. In the world of Amarone, this should certainly be considered a legendary wine! In hindsight it is a wine that is truly difficult to rate! There are some many things to be impressed about but to be honest there is also a bit of unbalance as the wine is almost too extreme. While tasting it I was 97-99p and can understand anyone that would argue both a higher and lower score. For me, it touched a nerve with me which is why I ended at 98p!
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Not everyone's wine. Initially quite an alcoholic nose. The alcohol dissipated over time. After two hours in the decanter the fruit hadn't yet emerged - but when it did, it was beautiful. Next time I'll give this at least three hours.
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2017 Villa d’Este Wine Symposium - Kelly and Kevin's excellent adventure; 11/9/2017-11/14/2017 (Villa D’este, Lake Como and Milan): Explosive nose displaying intense dark fruit, blackberry jam, dry fig, ink, licorice, molasses, balsamico, milk chocolate and oak. Incredible concentration, unctuous, intense rip black fruit driven palate impression, bright acidity and the finish that never ends. The tannins are completely masked by the concentrated fruit. One of the most concentrated wines of my life. For my palate, very imposing and impressive. It certainly is not for everyone. Some may also consider the wine to be flawed due to the noticeable VA. This will definitely outlive me.
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Spectacular conclusion to a night of excellent wines, including 2001 DRC, 2000 Leoville les Cases, 2008 Hobbs cabernet, 2005 Dana and others. Paired with a strong Parmesan cheese with balsamic and yet the chocolate, nutty flavor more than held its own. Just a magnificent wine.
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Dark red almost black; smoked very deep nose, slightly burned (?); extremely powerful, deeply concentrated, smoked tobacco; very masculine, incredibly intense, blood; very special, long long aftertaste; a bit rustique
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Amazing wine - popped and poured (sily me!) and was immediately disappointed. It seemed as if age had decimated the fruit. But after an hour in the bottle (we had no decanter handy) the fruit soared. Dark, dense, rich, jammy wine with legs like syrup and and a finish that went on for a minute. Just wonderful!
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Opaque, very dense concentrated purple, very dark cherry rim. Really closed, but obviously huge, slightly lifted. Very slowly emerging notes of earth, then maraschino, spice. Extremely full, tremendously polished, incredible silky, ethereal, yet muscular and mineral, very ripe and with quite present tannins, teasing spice. Chocolate and all sorts of spice in the endless aftertaste. Really impressive, and have to admit that the 17,5% are perfectly integrated.
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Surprised there aren't any notes on this here. Have I got the wrong wine? 17.5% ABV. Mostly burlap nose with a sort of rope quality and a backdrop of black fruit and glue. Full bodied and a bit hot with sweet blackish fruit. Disappointing.
KYD #1.1: Decanted 4 hours in advance. Very complex nose packed with full-bodied black cherry fruit mixed with tobacco, camphor, resin, smoke and violets. Beautiful nose! Heavy extracted but still fresh dark cherry fruit on the palate. Even though the fruit is compact, the wine almost still light and fresh in the mouth. Also some tobacco and violets coming through. An almost insane amount of acidity really balances the wine and the tannins are still harsh with a slightly polished feel to it! A simply amazing wine which is drinking perfectly at the moment!! On the day it was 98p+ but the day after it was a clear 99p and totally equal with the Quintarelli 97!
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PAWS Chef's Table Dinner (Rittenhouse): absolutely delicious. the amount of fruit that is on this wine is sick, especially after nearly 15 years. if i didnt know how old it was, i would have thought it was fresh off the boat. nose is so intense that if you take a big whiff, you are actually overwhelmed by the amount of fruit... blackberry, prune, and clove. thick and unctuous mouthfeel. long, long finish -- it just never ends. what a treat! drunk as a course in itself.
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Darker than the Quintarelli wines, by a wide margin, and drinking far younger. More of the jammy, sweet notes I expect from Amarone than the Quintarelli's. Quite tasty, but a step down from the others owing to its youthfulness. B
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Enormous concentration. Loaded with black fruits. Soft tannin. Complex all right. I can understand the hype about this wine. It is something special. On the other hand this has less to do with normal red wine and could probably better be compared with port wine (from Portugal). I tasted the wine blind. My score might be a bit low. What to say? For the region this might be a sublime effort. For the wine itself, compared to what other regions produce, this is the correct score. It is all so personal……
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UK Wine Pages - 1997 Off-line (Colombier Restaurant - Chelsea): Bright, deep ruby. Intense cherry kirsch nose, spicy, herbal - attractive slightly burnt edge. Surprisingly light on its feet on the palate, lifted by lovely acidity, plenty of ripe tannins, long finish. Excellent.
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White Burgs and Rich Italian Reds (Cà Angeli Restaurant, Tokyo): Deepest and darkest purple with a bit of the black of night. Sweet oak and vanillin are there in the beginning and will remain throughout, but there will also be a hundred other layers along the way. The nose and palate just kind of blend together into one great big textural pool of flavor, showing bits of coffee and chocolate and deep macerated berries and toasted nuts and molasses and even a bit of green underneath it all. Despite the 17.5% percent alcohol, I really only notice any heat when I look for it. I have no idea what I would ever drink this with and it would quickly become too much of a good thing but it is a wonderfully decadent dive into a viscous pool of flavor tonight. I’m not sure that even six degrees of separation would ever get me back to Corvina or Valpolicella, but it damn sure tastes good. Oh yeah, for those keeping score, the chocolate-driven finish is long.
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12/9/2023 - Liskit wrote: 97 Points
Apple, quince, eucalyptus, olive, earthy, wet leaves, balsamic. Very high concentration and persistence
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8/26/2023 - canan wrote: 98 Points
KYD #2.4: What a wine to be served blind! It just explodes from the glass and feels very extreme and still quite youthful with the concentrated fruit!
There is lots of dark plum fruit depth and still with a vibrant acidity and a touch of sweetness. Looking at the age, this is truly going to be a wine that will continue to impress for a very long time despite already being 25 years old.
In the world of Amarone, this should certainly be considered a legendary wine!
In hindsight it is a wine that is truly difficult to rate! There are some many things to be impressed about but to be honest there is also a bit of unbalance as the wine is almost too extreme. While tasting it I was 97-99p and can understand anyone that would argue both a higher and lower score.
For me, it touched a nerve with me which is why I ended at 98p!
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10/21/2022 - fcxj wrote: 92 Points
More exotic and sweet, at the same time less balanced than Quintarelli.
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8/8/2020 - cnordstr wrote: flawed
Slightly corked unfortunately
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11/29/2019 - peterk Likes this wine:
Not everyone's wine. Initially quite an alcoholic nose. The alcohol dissipated over time. After two hours in the decanter the fruit hadn't yet emerged - but when it did, it was beautiful. Next time I'll give this at least three hours.
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11/10/2017 - dcwino wrote: 97 Points
2017 Villa d’Este Wine Symposium - Kelly and Kevin's excellent adventure; 11/9/2017-11/14/2017 (Villa D’este, Lake Como and Milan): Explosive nose displaying intense dark fruit, blackberry jam, dry fig, ink, licorice, molasses, balsamico, milk chocolate and oak. Incredible concentration, unctuous, intense rip black fruit driven palate impression, bright acidity and the finish that never ends. The tannins are completely masked by the concentrated fruit. One of the most concentrated wines of my life. For my palate, very imposing and impressive. It certainly is not for everyone. Some may also consider the wine to be flawed due to the noticeable VA. This will definitely outlive me.
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8/20/2015 - RAD2626 Likes this wine: 94 Points
Spectacular conclusion to a night of excellent wines, including 2001 DRC, 2000 Leoville les Cases, 2008 Hobbs cabernet, 2005 Dana and others. Paired with a strong Parmesan cheese with balsamic and yet the chocolate, nutty flavor more than held its own. Just a magnificent wine.
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12/24/2013 - Miceri Likes this wine: 93 Points
Dark red almost black; smoked very deep nose, slightly burned (?); extremely powerful, deeply concentrated, smoked tobacco; very masculine, incredibly intense, blood; very special, long long aftertaste; a bit rustique
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2/18/2013 - JonnyG wrote: flawed
Badly corked. Oh the humanity...
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12/22/2011 - peterk wrote: 97 Points
Amazing wine - popped and poured (sily me!) and was immediately disappointed. It seemed as if age had decimated the fruit. But after an hour in the bottle (we had no decanter handy) the fruit soared. Dark, dense, rich, jammy wine with legs like syrup and and a finish that went on for a minute. Just wonderful!
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12/13/2011 - igaf wrote:
Opaque, very dense concentrated purple, very dark cherry rim. Really closed, but obviously huge, slightly lifted. Very slowly emerging notes of earth, then maraschino, spice. Extremely full, tremendously polished, incredible silky, ethereal, yet muscular and mineral, very ripe and with quite present tannins, teasing spice. Chocolate and all sorts of spice in the endless aftertaste. Really impressive, and have to admit that the 17,5% are perfectly integrated.
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11/16/2011 - OneLastSyrah wrote: 90 Points
Surprised there aren't any notes on this here. Have I got the wrong wine? 17.5% ABV. Mostly burlap nose with a sort of rope quality and a backdrop of black fruit and glue. Full bodied and a bit hot with sweet blackish fruit. Disappointing.
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1/29/2011 - canan wrote: 99 Points
KYD #1.1: Decanted 4 hours in advance.
Very complex nose packed with full-bodied black cherry fruit mixed with tobacco, camphor, resin, smoke and violets. Beautiful nose!
Heavy extracted but still fresh dark cherry fruit on the palate. Even though the fruit is compact, the wine almost still light and fresh in the mouth. Also some tobacco and violets coming through. An almost insane amount of acidity really balances the wine and the tannins are still harsh with a slightly polished feel to it!
A simply amazing wine which is drinking perfectly at the moment!!
On the day it was 98p+ but the day after it was a clear 99p and totally equal with the Quintarelli 97!
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1/22/2011 - ews3 wrote: 97 Points
PAWS Chef's Table Dinner (Rittenhouse): absolutely delicious. the amount of fruit that is on this wine is sick, especially after nearly 15 years. if i didnt know how old it was, i would have thought it was fresh off the boat. nose is so intense that if you take a big whiff, you are actually overwhelmed by the amount of fruit... blackberry, prune, and clove. thick and unctuous mouthfeel. long, long finish -- it just never ends. what a treat! drunk as a course in itself.
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4/6/2009 - Alex G. wrote:
Darker than the Quintarelli wines, by a wide margin, and drinking far younger. More of the jammy, sweet notes I expect from Amarone than the Quintarelli's. Quite tasty, but a step down from the others owing to its youthfulness. B
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11/25/2008 - Zweder wrote: 91 Points
Enormous concentration. Loaded with black fruits. Soft tannin. Complex all right. I can understand the hype about this wine. It is something special. On the other hand this has less to do with normal red wine and could probably better be compared with port wine (from Portugal). I tasted the wine blind. My score might be a bit low. What to say? For the region this might be a sublime effort. For the wine itself, compared to what other regions produce, this is the correct score. It is all so personal……
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11/2/2007 - rob1869 wrote: 89 Points
Wines of 1997 Offline (Le Colombier): Dark ruby; dark perfumed fruit, cherry and herbs; good length.
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11/2/2007 - Paul D wrote:
UK Wine Pages - 1997 Off-line (Colombier Restaurant - Chelsea): Bright, deep ruby. Intense cherry kirsch nose, spicy, herbal - attractive slightly burnt edge. Surprisingly light on its feet on the palate, lifted by lovely acidity, plenty of ripe tannins, long finish. Excellent.
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2/7/2007 - mattiasjansson wrote: 93 Points
Backstreet - No theme (Backstreet Wine Salon, Phoenix): Big fruit. Full-bodied. High acidity.
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8/9/2006 - burgcamel wrote: 98 Points
Great bottle! Fun to drink but not so easy to match with food.
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3/20/2006 - jrufusj wrote:
White Burgs and Rich Italian Reds (Cà Angeli Restaurant, Tokyo): Deepest and darkest purple with a bit of the black of night. Sweet oak and vanillin are there in the beginning and will remain throughout, but there will also be a hundred other layers along the way. The nose and palate just kind of blend together into one great big textural pool of flavor, showing bits of coffee and chocolate and deep macerated berries and toasted nuts and molasses and even a bit of green underneath it all. Despite the 17.5% percent alcohol, I really only notice any heat when I look for it. I have no idea what I would ever drink this with and it would quickly become too much of a good thing but it is a wonderfully decadent dive into a viscous pool of flavor tonight. I’m not sure that even six degrees of separation would ever get me back to Corvina or Valpolicella, but it damn sure tastes good. Oh yeah, for those keeping score, the chocolate-driven finish is long.
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