This was singing. No sign of age, most thought 3-4 years old. Great friut/acid balance. Matched well with varied Chinese seafood courses. Agree with the drinking window.
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After a 2006 that was, sadly, over-the-hill, this 2007 has the classic saline aromatics and palate and is super complex; not much fruit left, golden and fuller in body now, but with just enough zing. Will drink my 09/10s soon.
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Funny - last time Josh poured this blind, I guessed it was a Gruner (from my note on this in 2013). I did the same thing again - without seeing the bottle shape, I was convinced this was a top flight Gruner with all the bright green citrus and herbal flavours over a vivid stony mineral base. A really polished, slightly glossy texture on the palate with great focus and precision, finishing with remarkable length.
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Always loved this vintage. Huge aromatics including a big punch of sulfur but it works with the wine, pumping up the flinty minerality. Super pure fruit as usual just starting to turn a bit golden and fuller and deepen in tone. I haven't had any CP older than this one and don't know where it goes from here. It seems to be getting less mineral and more fleshy.
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Still my favorite vintage of Cepas Vellas to date. Starts out with a huge stench of sulfur but that's okay. Then it's the familiar bright, sandy, oyster-shell palate as though you're actually drinking a beach. A sip of this wine after the oyster actually tastes more like oyster than the oyster did. Can't imagine a more perfect oyster wine. (Sorry, Muscadet.)
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Leo's Blind Tasting Group - July '13 edition (Cookshop, NY): Thought this was a Grüner when poured blind; there's a vividly green, verdant aroma leading into a palate full of bright citrus fruit tinged by spicy/herbal elements. The texture's quite remarkable, it's very rich, almost oily yet retains fantastic precision and balance.
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Cerrado al principio algunos dijeron pólvora, asfalto, rueda quemada pero desaparecen muy rápido y entonces una nariz mentolada y melosa. En boca es simple, ácida, para mi típica Rías Baixas pero sin resultar ofensiva. Creo que la añada era un poco pobre...
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A B-day double blind session: Tasted double blind. Opened for 2 hours. No formal notes. Strange nose mainly with smoked aromas and blue cheese... everybody thought of a chard. On palate this was grassy, well balanced with flavours of white fruit, minerality and a medium finish made of tropical fruits. When the bottle was unveiled we were surprised and totally fooled by this wine and on how different this showed, specially on nose. (90+)
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A surprising hint of kerosene along with slight aromas of melon, peaches and citrus. Light straw in color, with medium body. Citrus and minerals, fine acidity and a lingering finish. Much, much better than I expected.
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It was almost frustrating how good this was - I was only in the mood for something interesting but ended up with something profound. Too profound for a Monday night! My experience with this wine only goes back to the 2005 and 2006 vintages, but neither of those, on the basis of how they showed at a similar point, came anywhere close to comparing with this one in terms of the clarity and intensity of the mineral expression. This is as pure a soil-to-glass transfer as you can hope to experience; it's almost hard to put your finger on what flavors in here, other than its general brightness, actually come from grapes. Instead it's defined by seashells and seabreezes (gosh, I'd love to try drinking this with some uni) and other indescribable mineral elements that become even deeper and borderline pungent in the leftovers the next day, picking up a rieslingesque whiff of kerosene, but in terms of mouthfeel and weight this has even more grace than riesling. It's weightless and actually lacy, a term I'm not sure I've ever used to describe a white wine because it's usually an attribute of the tannins, but here the tactile mineral elements are imparting the same kind of relief.
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Front-loaded with citrus and mineral extreme. Dries down with a nice body, really svelte lines and a surprising richness. Well-balanced. Developed nicely over time. Really good.
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Medium straw in color, possessing aromas and flavors of white peaches, some citrus and minerals. Even though this is Albariño, it reminds me somewhat of a good Austrian white in texture and roundness, beyond what I expected in a typical Albariño. There definitely an old-vine intensity to these 200-year old vines, but it has that good "intensity without weight" component to it. A delicious drink.
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7/17/2021 - RKatzDO wrote: 93 Points
This was singing. No sign of age, most thought 3-4 years old. Great friut/acid balance. Matched well with varied Chinese seafood courses. Agree with the drinking window.
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7/18/2020 - MJHDC wrote:
After a 2006 that was, sadly, over-the-hill, this 2007 has the classic saline aromatics and palate and is super complex; not much fruit left, golden and fuller in body now, but with just enough zing. Will drink my 09/10s soon.
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4/5/2016 - salil wrote: 94 Points
Funny - last time Josh poured this blind, I guessed it was a Gruner (from my note on this in 2013). I did the same thing again - without seeing the bottle shape, I was convinced this was a top flight Gruner with all the bright green citrus and herbal flavours over a vivid stony mineral base. A really polished, slightly glossy texture on the palate with great focus and precision, finishing with remarkable length.
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8/8/2015 - Keith Levenberg Likes this wine: 94 Points
Always loved this vintage. Huge aromatics including a big punch of sulfur but it works with the wine, pumping up the flinty minerality. Super pure fruit as usual just starting to turn a bit golden and fuller and deepen in tone. I haven't had any CP older than this one and don't know where it goes from here. It seems to be getting less mineral and more fleshy.
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4/19/2014 - Ben Christiansen wrote:
Pineapple and powerful aromas, softer on the palate then the Pedralonga, needing some time to open up.
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3/21/2014 - pigdaddy wrote: flawed
Flawed by TCA. Last bottle blues.
Lesson: do not cook towards a specific wine's characteristics, unless you have a comparable back-up available.
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7/26/2013 - Keith Levenberg Likes this wine:
Still my favorite vintage of Cepas Vellas to date. Starts out with a huge stench of sulfur but that's okay. Then it's the familiar bright, sandy, oyster-shell palate as though you're actually drinking a beach. A sip of this wine after the oyster actually tastes more like oyster than the oyster did. Can't imagine a more perfect oyster wine. (Sorry, Muscadet.)
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7/21/2013 - salil wrote: 92 Points
Leo's Blind Tasting Group - July '13 edition (Cookshop, NY): Thought this was a Grüner when poured blind; there's a vividly green, verdant aroma leading into a palate full of bright citrus fruit tinged by spicy/herbal elements. The texture's quite remarkable, it's very rich, almost oily yet retains fantastic precision and balance.
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7/4/2013 - Harley1199 wrote:
Rediscovering Do Ferreiro with its owner Gerardo Mendez (Enoteca Barolo - Madrid): Closed at first. People said gunpowder, asphalt but those disappear very quickly then minty honeyed nose. Nice
Palate is simple, acidic, typical Rias Bajas but not offensive.
I think this vintage was a poor one...
Cerrado al principio algunos dijeron pólvora, asfalto, rueda quemada pero desaparecen muy rápido y entonces una nariz mentolada y melosa.
En boca es simple, ácida, para mi típica Rías Baixas pero sin resultar ofensiva.
Creo que la añada era un poco pobre...
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7/26/2012 - Periko wrote: 90 Points
A B-day double blind session: Tasted double blind. Opened for 2 hours. No formal notes. Strange nose mainly with smoked aromas and blue cheese... everybody thought of a chard. On palate this was grassy, well balanced with flavours of white fruit, minerality and a medium finish made of tropical fruits. When the bottle was unveiled we were surprised and totally fooled by this wine and on how different this showed, specially on nose. (90+)
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8/17/2011 - samwe wrote: 94 Points
excellent - more than I hoped for
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6/6/2011 - cookiefiend wrote:
A surprising hint of kerosene along with slight aromas of melon, peaches and citrus. Light straw in color, with medium body. Citrus and minerals, fine acidity and a lingering finish. Much, much better than I expected.
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1/4/2011 - Keith Levenberg wrote: 96 Points
It was almost frustrating how good this was - I was only in the mood for something interesting but ended up with something profound. Too profound for a Monday night! My experience with this wine only goes back to the 2005 and 2006 vintages, but neither of those, on the basis of how they showed at a similar point, came anywhere close to comparing with this one in terms of the clarity and intensity of the mineral expression. This is as pure a soil-to-glass transfer as you can hope to experience; it's almost hard to put your finger on what flavors in here, other than its general brightness, actually come from grapes. Instead it's defined by seashells and seabreezes (gosh, I'd love to try drinking this with some uni) and other indescribable mineral elements that become even deeper and borderline pungent in the leftovers the next day, picking up a rieslingesque whiff of kerosene, but in terms of mouthfeel and weight this has even more grace than riesling. It's weightless and actually lacy, a term I'm not sure I've ever used to describe a white wine because it's usually an attribute of the tannins, but here the tactile mineral elements are imparting the same kind of relief.
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7/21/2009 - AndrewSGHall wrote:
Front-loaded with citrus and mineral extreme. Dries down with a nice body, really svelte lines and a surprising richness. Well-balanced. Developed nicely over time. Really good.
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6/14/2009 - jaimetown wrote: 91 Points
Medium straw in color, possessing aromas and flavors of white peaches, some citrus and minerals. Even though this is Albariño, it reminds me somewhat of a good Austrian white in texture and roundness, beyond what I expected in a typical Albariño. There definitely an old-vine intensity to these 200-year old vines, but it has that good "intensity without weight" component to it. A delicious drink.
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