rating based on the last glass. prior to this was maybe 91/92
decanted at 3pm, put back in the bottle at 6pm. decanted again at the restaurant, started consuming at 6:30. was still a bit reticent to reveal all its splendor. was actually hoping for more.
after another hour or so it became smoother with the finish expanding. this was my last bottle, but if I had another I'd decant at least 6 hours.
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Drunk for lunch of roast rolled lamb shoulder, with pommes Anna and braised carrots. Bright, opaque, dark ruby. Amazing length of 90+ seconds. Really well balanced. Soft tannins present without bitterness or harshness. Acids present making it food friendly and lively. The flavours were so well integrated that no one flavour dominated - hints of wood, earth and black fruits all intertwined. Drinking perfectly now - very much at its peak but still tasted good on day 3, so likely to stay at peak for quite a few years yet. Really rather lush - a rich, modern style rioja, without being overdone.
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This needed a good 3-4 hours of air before it came together. Boysenberry, cassis, dark cherry, along with tobacco, sandalwood, incense, sweet curry, bell pepper, rosemary, coconut, and dusty cocoa powder. Cedar, vanilla, and peppermint on the finish with pomegranate acidity. A little better on day 2, as darker fruits and plush, dusty tannins emerged and cedar/vanilla oak was less pronounced. Very good, though I’m not sure that I found it better than the 1996 Pesquerra Riserva that I opened recently. I suspect this would have been at its best a few years earlier (judging from CT reviews, 2015 was the right year to open it), though this wasn’t over the hill yet (whereas the Pesquera seemed to be drinking at peak). Perfect match with Lamb and Pork Tenderloin with a Chorizo/Bell pepper migas. I liked this better in the Zalto All Purpose glass than in the Riedel Hermitage glass, which is my usually go to glass for Tempranillo.
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Lush, seductive bouquet of cedar, vanilla, and cola. Rich mouthfeel, with soft tannins and vivid acidity. Extracted wild berries and dash of slate and earth, this is powerful juice that makes a strong impression on the palate. Perhaps slightly past peak now, but this has so much more life left, and is utterly delicious at this stage. I am blessed to have a such a pristine bottle stored in my cold cellar for 20 years.
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Artadi Night (Extra Space): Drank from bottle over 2 hours. Appearance is clear, deep intensity, garnet colour. Legs. Nose is not clean, medium+ intensity, with aromas of bretty animal, black cherries, boysenberries, earth, integrated vanilla oak. Developed. On the palate, dry, high acidity, medium alcohol (13.5%), soft medium+ tannins, full body. Medium+ flavour intensity, with flavours of juicy red plums, black cherries, boysenberries, earth, cinnamon spice, integrated sweet vanilla oak, minty menthol. Long finish. Very good quality. Pricey, poor QPR. Time to drink up and enjoy. Single vineyard, 100% Tempranillo.
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Intense red with prominent orange hue and clear in the glass. This was one of the most visually appealing wines I have come across. Fiery sunset orange and red. Open nose with the remnants of blackberry, sour cherry, and eucalyptus. Beautiful, slightly under-ripe cherries on the palate, with orange peel, menthol and just the right amount of fine, dusty tannins. Smooth, lingering, dusty finish. Everything anyone could hope for in a bottle: complex, vibrant, integrated, and balanced. 96pts.
I feel this bottle was opened right at its peak. More time and it would have entered the "amber" phase of its life. Less time and it would not have been as melted and integrated as it was today.
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James Q Wine Dinner (No Menu Boon Tat Street Singapore): [James Q Wine Dinner No Menu, 10 Mar 2015, Singapore]. Rich, red velvety and smooth, with that signature Artadi concentrated cherry, honey, choc and jam. Took 40 mins in the decanter to wake up then was elegant, powerful and balanced, yet with enough space for a plethora of flavours to come through. Some commented that it was a blend ! It is that mouthfilling and satisfying.
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toller Wein in schönem Stadium. Wunderbare tertiäre Aromen, gute Säurestruktur fein verbobene Tannine. Erlebnis mit langem Finale. Weit weg von Primäraromen ;) hielt sehr gut viele Stunden zusammen. wie er am nächsten Tag gewesen wäre weiß ich nicht ...
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Drank two bottles in two days and both were dynamite! When set beside similar age and quality barolos as part of a casual meal of roast wild boar and elk bolognese, this wine stole the show.
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Brought to a tasting, dropped into a decanter and consumed about 3 hours later. Did not take detailed notes but felt this was in a darn good spot. Very complex with a lot of spices, fruit and forest floor. Nice elegant mouthfeel to boot. I'll be watching the secondary market for more of this.
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Deep garnet still with minimal clear rim. Dark, rich fruits on the nose with smoke and sweet spice. Very nicely balanced on the palate - gentle tannins and some acidity. Quite rich and full. Still some sign of the oak used but not too bad. Very enjoyable. Good length with smooth finish. This was drinking well early in the decanter but was a great drink after 60 minutes. Enjoy now.
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Aromatically - A little tight upon opening, but blossemed after a few hours to reveal beautiful elegance expressed by rose and red fruit. A medium density wine with fine grain tannin. 93+
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Spanish Dinner (Denver, CO): Opened 2-3 hours and not decanted. Hard to see the family relationship to the El Pison at all. This is a muscular wine with forward bold fruit that has tobacco and peppery spices leaping at you on the nose and coating your palate. This has a structure of resolving tannins and decent acidity. Nice wine, but along side the El Pison and the Unico, this bottle was only about one-third consumed. A shame as this is a nice wine.
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Decanted 2 hours. My previous descriptors still apply (amazing aromas, solid complex fruit, great finish), but the structure is not as firm as the last bottle almost a year ago. Crested its peak?
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Southern Nights #1 (@ PVa): Dark ruby red. A lot of good and ripe red and dark fruit juice. Beautiful oak. Good balance between acidity, sweetness and tannin.
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At O'R'O Miami Beach w Ernie&Selma Specarelli. Double decanted in am. Slightly funky smoky flavors withou heavy oak notes, Very good but not = to others views.
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This wine is still going strong. See note from April '05. Deep dark color, great fruit with loads of interesting 'earthy/spicey' notes. Terrific finish.
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drink up. at its peak. and i believe it is down hill from now on. HUGE difference right now from its big brother the El Pison. HUGE. I had the el-pison as well a few weeks ago and that one is on a VERY different level. Though this one is good, it really should be consumed. I can't see it holding till its 15th birthday.
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Just amazing. Almost explosive nose of stawberry/dark cherry/leather/tobacco/earth/vanilla. Fruit predominated on the palate which was satifisfying, but not plush. Decent acidity (just perfect with the osso buco) but rounded out into a terrific mid-range finish with firm, resolving, in-balance tannins. An experience that just makes you want to pick the glass up again and again. Decanted for 90 minutes. Easily exceeded my expectations after trying a 1994 last year. I think this will hold for many more years as the color was brilliant cherry/strawberry with almost no bricking on the edge and it was equally good the second night.
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ahh! What a splendid surprise this was! If this keeps up, I think Spain will become my favorite region. Dark red/purple in color. Incredibly pleasant sweet aromas of cranberry, vanilla, raisins and some licorice. Full body with a fantastic balance. Concentrated flavors of ripe grapes, plums, and prunes. Long finish, with a really good after taste. Overall a heavy weight wine, not the most complex wine, but one that provides everything needed in a very solid way. I believe the wine is mature now, or very close to its peak. Feels as if it could keep for many more years though.
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11/30/2023 - essenceofreal wrote: 93 Points
rating based on the last glass. prior to this was maybe 91/92
decanted at 3pm, put back in the bottle at 6pm. decanted again at the restaurant, started consuming at 6:30. was still a bit reticent to reveal all its splendor. was actually hoping for more.
after another hour or so it became smoother with the finish expanding. this was my last bottle, but if I had another I'd decant at least 6 hours.
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3/20/2022 - Mon.Maultiere Likes this wine: 94 Points
Drunk for lunch of roast rolled lamb shoulder, with pommes Anna and braised carrots. Bright, opaque, dark ruby. Amazing length of 90+ seconds. Really well balanced. Soft tannins present without bitterness or harshness. Acids present making it food friendly and lively. The flavours were so well integrated that no one flavour dominated - hints of wood, earth and black fruits all intertwined. Drinking perfectly now - very much at its peak but still tasted good on day 3, so likely to stay at peak for quite a few years yet. Really rather lush - a rich, modern style rioja, without being overdone.
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10/29/2020 - jhngo Likes this wine: 94 Points
Nose of cedar leather pencil shavings. Slightly tart blue fruit. Well balanced not too heavy. Finish dry clean and delicious. Very good.
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4/30/2020 - jkscully Likes this wine:
This needed a good 3-4 hours of air before it came together. Boysenberry, cassis, dark cherry, along with tobacco, sandalwood, incense, sweet curry, bell pepper, rosemary, coconut, and dusty cocoa powder. Cedar, vanilla, and peppermint on the finish with pomegranate acidity. A little better on day 2, as darker fruits and plush, dusty tannins emerged and cedar/vanilla oak was less pronounced. Very good, though I’m not sure that I found it better than the 1996 Pesquerra Riserva that I opened recently. I suspect this would have been at its best a few years earlier (judging from CT reviews, 2015 was the right year to open it), though this wasn’t over the hill yet (whereas the Pesquera seemed to be drinking at peak). Perfect match with Lamb and Pork Tenderloin with a Chorizo/Bell pepper migas. I liked this better in the Zalto All Purpose glass than in the Riedel Hermitage glass, which is my usually go to glass for Tempranillo.
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2/23/2019 - Scott McDonald wrote: flawed
Corked
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10/13/2018 - robmatic wrote: 95 Points
Lush, seductive bouquet of cedar, vanilla, and cola. Rich mouthfeel, with soft tannins and vivid acidity. Extracted wild berries and dash of slate and earth, this is powerful juice that makes a strong impression on the palate. Perhaps slightly past peak now, but this has so much more life left, and is utterly delicious at this stage. I am blessed to have a such a pristine bottle stored in my cold cellar for 20 years.
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5/24/2017 - Derek Darth Taster Likes this wine: 94 Points
Artadi Night (Extra Space): Drank from bottle over 2 hours.
Appearance is clear, deep intensity, garnet colour. Legs.
Nose is not clean, medium+ intensity, with aromas of bretty animal, black cherries, boysenberries, earth, integrated vanilla oak. Developed.
On the palate, dry, high acidity, medium alcohol (13.5%), soft medium+ tannins, full body. Medium+ flavour intensity, with flavours of juicy red plums, black cherries, boysenberries, earth, cinnamon spice, integrated sweet vanilla oak, minty menthol. Long finish.
Very good quality. Pricey, poor QPR. Time to drink up and enjoy.
Single vineyard, 100% Tempranillo.
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11/10/2015 - texanoblues Likes this wine: 96 Points
Intense red with prominent orange hue and clear in the glass. This was one of the most visually appealing wines I have come across. Fiery sunset orange and red. Open nose with the remnants of blackberry, sour cherry, and eucalyptus. Beautiful, slightly under-ripe cherries on the palate, with orange peel, menthol and just the right amount of fine, dusty tannins. Smooth, lingering, dusty finish. Everything anyone could hope for in a bottle: complex, vibrant, integrated, and balanced. 96pts.
I feel this bottle was opened right at its peak. More time and it would have entered the "amber" phase of its life. Less time and it would not have been as melted and integrated as it was today.
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6/13/2015 - dron_ap wrote: 93 Points
Cherry jam and black berries aged in left bank bordeaux style. Leans more towards cabernet than to tempranillo
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3/10/2015 - bengti Likes this wine: 93 Points
James Q Wine Dinner (No Menu Boon Tat Street Singapore): [James Q Wine Dinner No Menu, 10 Mar 2015, Singapore]. Rich, red velvety and smooth, with that signature Artadi concentrated cherry, honey, choc and jam. Took 40 mins in the decanter to wake up then was elegant, powerful and balanced, yet with enough space for a plethora of flavours to come through. Some commented that it was a blend ! It is that mouthfilling and satisfying.
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11/23/2014 - absolut Likes this wine: 92 Points
toller Wein in schönem Stadium. Wunderbare tertiäre Aromen, gute Säurestruktur fein verbobene Tannine. Erlebnis mit langem Finale. Weit weg von Primäraromen ;) hielt sehr gut viele Stunden zusammen. wie er am nächsten Tag gewesen wäre weiß ich nicht ...
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2/9/2014 - never oenough wrote: 94 Points
Another perfect bottle of Rioja!
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2/9/2014 - never oenough wrote: 95 Points
Drank two bottles in two days and both were dynamite! When set beside similar age and quality barolos as part of a casual meal of roast wild boar and elk bolognese, this wine stole the show.
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1/18/2014 - robmatic wrote: 94 Points
At peak and perfect. Really good juice, with great depth of flavor and bouquet.
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12/11/2013 - chablis28 wrote: 93 Points
Impressive elegant wine with terroir shinning through at this age.
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12/11/2013 - Bellissimo Likes this wine:
Brought to a tasting, dropped into a decanter and consumed about 3 hours later. Did not take detailed notes but felt this was in a darn good spot. Very complex with a lot of spices, fruit and forest floor. Nice elegant mouthfeel to boot. I'll be watching the secondary market for more of this.
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3/22/2012 - DonalOB wrote: 93 Points
Again this needed a little time, about an hour, to settle down and integrate.
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2/8/2012 - DonalOB Likes this wine: 94 Points
Deep garnet still with minimal clear rim.
Dark, rich fruits on the nose with smoke and sweet spice.
Very nicely balanced on the palate - gentle tannins and some acidity. Quite rich and full. Still some sign of the oak used but not too bad. Very enjoyable. Good length with smooth finish.
This was drinking well early in the decanter but was a great drink after 60 minutes. Enjoy now.
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11/5/2010 - G_H wrote: 89 Points
Washington State against the rest of the World (Park Hotel Weggis): Leather, floral, tons of flowers, quite strong acidity, you could tell this is aged and past it's peak but still drinking nicely
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10/2/2010 - Yagil Likes this wine: 93 Points
classic Rioja aroma, gentle fine wine, well balanced, secondary aromas and lots of flavors; a wonderful wine.
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2/21/2010 - Harrypotter wrote:
Aromatically - A little tight upon opening, but blossemed after a few hours to reveal beautiful elegance expressed by rose and red fruit. A medium density wine with fine grain tannin. 93+
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2/24/2009 - Lorien wrote: 85 Points
see my note 2/28/2008 - exact same experience though i do feel this wine does carry a reasonable level of personality at this point. drink up though!
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2/23/2009 - Zweder wrote: 91 Points
Occasional tasting group: Extensive Top Spain tasting. (@ PVa): Concentrated wine. Soft and juicy. Chocolate. Dark fruits. Pleasant sweetness. Long finish. Beautiful now, but no real hurry drinking this wine.
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1/14/2009 - Yagil wrote: 87 Points
excellent
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11/22/2008 - thomaskeil wrote: 92 Points
Spanish Dinner (Denver, CO): Opened 2-3 hours and not decanted. Hard to see the family relationship to the El Pison at all. This is a muscular wine with forward bold fruit that has tobacco and peppery spices leaping at you on the nose and coating your palate. This has a structure of resolving tannins and decent acidity. Nice wine, but along side the El Pison and the Unico, this bottle was only about one-third consumed. A shame as this is a nice wine.
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2/28/2008 - Lorien wrote: 85 Points
better than last time. seems a little thin, and the more I have this, the more it feels like Artadi's "second wine". It is good, but way overpriced.
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11/19/2006 - thomaskeil wrote: 92 Points
Decanted 2 hours. My previous descriptors still apply (amazing aromas, solid complex fruit, great finish), but the structure is not as firm as the last bottle almost a year ago. Crested its peak?
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7/1/2006 - Zweder wrote: 92 Points
Southern Nights #1 (@ PVa): Dark ruby red. A lot of good and ripe red and dark fruit juice. Beautiful oak. Good balance between acidity, sweetness and tannin.
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1/21/2006 - markellen.foodies@gmail.com wrote: 90 Points
At O'R'O Miami Beach w Ernie&Selma Specarelli. Double decanted in am. Slightly funky smoky flavors withou heavy oak notes, Very good but not = to others views.
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1/1/2006 - thomaskeil wrote: 93 Points
This wine is still going strong. See note from April '05. Deep dark color, great fruit with loads of interesting 'earthy/spicey' notes. Terrific finish.
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8/11/2005 - Lorien wrote:
drink up. at its peak. and i believe it is down hill from now on. HUGE difference right now from its big brother the El Pison. HUGE. I had the el-pison as well a few weeks ago and that one is on a VERY different level. Though this one is good, it really should be consumed. I can't see it holding till its 15th birthday.
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4/10/2005 - thomaskeil wrote: 93 Points
Just amazing. Almost explosive nose of stawberry/dark cherry/leather/tobacco/earth/vanilla. Fruit predominated on the palate which was satifisfying, but not plush. Decent acidity (just perfect with the osso buco) but rounded out into a terrific mid-range finish with firm, resolving, in-balance tannins. An experience that just makes you want to pick the glass up again and again. Decanted for 90 minutes. Easily exceeded my expectations after trying a 1994 last year. I think this will hold for many more years as the color was brilliant cherry/strawberry with almost no bricking on the edge and it was equally good the second night.
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11/9/2003 - Lorien wrote: 94 Points
ahh! What a splendid surprise this was! If this keeps up, I think Spain will become my favorite region. Dark red/purple in color. Incredibly pleasant sweet aromas of cranberry, vanilla, raisins and some licorice. Full body with a fantastic balance. Concentrated flavors of ripe grapes, plums, and prunes. Long finish, with a really good after taste. Overall a heavy weight wine, not the most complex wine, but one that provides everything needed in a very solid way. I believe the wine is mature now, or very close to its peak. Feels as if it could keep for many more years though.
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