Brigaldara Recioto della Valpolicella 2003
Thanks to my parents. Full, nicely glossy, lightly purple ruby. Very sweet and ripe, but so youthfully tannic that this currently seems less sweet in balance than the 2001. Silky-smooth fruit, the tannin should follow suit soon enough. Nice body and length. Despite the head-spinning alcohol (15.5% versus the 14% of the 2001), there is greater floral inner-mouth perfume here. Juicy currants and mild milk chocolate with airing, as well as already impressive overall integration of fruit, tannin and alcohol. Should profit from a year or two in bottle, and drink well for a number of years beyond, but then, it is so tasty now, there is really no reason to wait. Rating: 91+/92(+?)
Brigaldara Amarone della Valpolicella Case Vecie 2003
Thanks to my parents, for whom I had bought this blind as they had so much liked the 1999. I was shocked when I saw it says 17.5% alcohol on the label, and in general must admit I getting seriously tired of this “side effect” of the so-called great vintages nowadays (there used to be a time when winemakers did not go to such extremes in even the hottest, driest and most “legendary” vintages, and one may wonder if it is more than half true when vintners today, unless they admit they do it on purpose, sheepishly claim a freakish alcohol level is unavoidable). Lightly purple, virtually opaque ruby-red, lighter at the rim. The very high alcohol does not “burn” but clearly dominates sweetly ripe and still quite fresh and floral prune juice and raisiny currants in spirit. Violety-chocolatey tannin. This even has mild acidity. The fruit expectedly has slightly more depth (this is the single vineyard Amarone from the slightly more elevated Casa Vecie vineyard in Grezzana, there is also a “generic” version from fruit from the communes San Pietro in Cariano and Marano), and there appear to be more soil notes than in the Recioto (of this dessert wine version, as far as I know, there is only one). I would be ready to bet the Casa Vecie contains a little residual sugar, and probably for the better. Even so, we all agreed that while this is again a success for Amarone in this price category, less alcohol would have made it far easier to appreciate. Even so, my father still prefers the Casa Vecie Amarone to the “standard” (their only?) Recioto. Must say I have a far easier time having a second (and even third) glass of Recioto these days, and so does my mother. As to the alcohol integration, one might say a wine of this price category can be excused for not fully integrating 17.5% alcohol (given even wine of legendary proportions rarely achieves this specific type of miracle), to which I have only one answer: neither can alcohol be expected to mysteriously disappear with bottle age! Rating: 91+/92?
Ciacci Piccolomini d'Aragona Brunello di Montalcino Pianrosso 1997
A belated tasting note not from October 2007, on which I just happened to find a scrap paper note, but it is on a wine from one of our favourite Brunello producers, so I am including it here. Ordered from a restaurant wine list with Dani, with lunch one time in nearby Austria. The wine was a beauty, ripe, round and full of flavour, if early-mature compared to the great 1990. A bit gamy marzipan sweetness. Finesse notes of tobacco and roasted coffee. Smooth and quite long on the finish. Rating: 93
Château Dourthe No. 1 Bordeaux Merlot-Cabernet Sauvignon 2005
Thanks to Joanne. Agglomerate/pressed cork. Full purple-ruby-black. Violety-plummy-pruney fruit, fair enough ripeness and concentration, soft metal, mineral and oak notes, but artichoke-like greenish-bitter tannin and a medium-short finish. There is worse run-off-the-mill supermarket Bordeaux, though. Red-fruitier and oakier after 12 hours. Rating: 79+?
Fattoria di Felsina Chianti Classico Berardenga 1985
Thanks to Matthias. From an early-mature vintage, or at least one that showed harmony at an adolescent age, even the customarily tough Felsina Berardenga was better a few years ago. Barely medium ruby-black colour, looks light if still healthy, retaining some brightness and gloss. There is a little black cherry-based fruit left and a little of the medium-hard but not dry, tannin that is typical of the vintage, faintly dried blood orange rind flavoured. Having said that, the acid backbone has turned slightly awkward and brittle, a sure sign that the wine is going to pieces. Barely medium length. Not much of a pleasure to drink anymore, this is really just hanging on – barely! Rating: N/R
Fattoria di Felsina Chianti Classico Berardenga 1979
Thanks to Matthias. From magnum, back then still the customary wickerbottle. Also well-stored, this is nonetheless past its prime. There is still some gloss and a ruby-red center to the colour, but with wide amber-brown at the rim. What fruit is left smells and tastes like a (clean!) orangey quince-like nail polish, in other words, it is not yet undrinkable, but no longer a pleasure to swallow. A pity, as my mother and I remember the Felsina BERARDENGA was a fair-enough success for the vintage. Even without fruit, the 1979 tries to cling on to the palate for as long as the 1985. Rating: N/R
Fonseca Vintage Port 1985
One of my favourite (three) Ports of the eighties, this time thanks to my parents. Full ruby-black, still shows a soft purple hue. Grape peel, licorice, prune compote, soft cedar and ginger, faint nutmeg and clove. Full body. Tiny balsamico note to the still slightly hard tannin. Quite long. Better alcohol integration (or some just blew off in the decanter), plummier, more viscous and glyceric, as well as sweeter and longer 24 hours later. Rating: 95+?
Gaja Langhe Sito Moresco 2004
Ordered from a restaurant wine list. Usually a blend of roughly equal parts of Nebbiolo, Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon. Full garnet-ruby-black. Toasty oak, cherry coulis, Papa Meilland rose petal, later a little half-dried blood orange. Ripe, sweet and sexy, if superficial wine. Cocoa powdery, somewhat oak-tarry tannin that is polished but not too fine, and which lacks depth and finesse. Soft if welcome acidity. Super-modern wine that my parents felt is as polished (in both the positive and negative sense) as they get, in other words, “high-end-gastronomic”. Recognizable, not without a style of its own, but still lacks character. Certainly not a wine I would cellar, all too easy to imagine what it will be like without its primary fruit, even if it has the backbone and concentration to, well, not die on its owner for several years. Those looking for Gaja to cellar, expecting it to improve with bottle age, eventually show depth and finesse, given enough patience also soil notes, that is, terroir, should stick with his Barbaresco and Nebbiolo Crus. Sito Moresco, to me, is no more (if also no less, depending on one’s perspective) than a super-modernistic bottling for the impatient. Having said that, 2004 seems a successful vintage for Sito Moresco, so those who like this style may want to check it out. Rating: 91-/90-?
Robert Groffier Bourgogne “Pinot Noir” 1999
Thanks to my parents. I appear not to have typed a note on this since August 2004. It has evolved only little since then. Medium-full raspberry-ruby with black reflections. A lovely, finesseful touch of beef juice to mild yet racy enough, prettily glyceric and evenly ripe, sweet fruit and shallot-flavoured acidity. Medium body. Good length. Nice if not especially complex or finesseful tannin. A very tasty little wine. Rating: 87+/~88?
Peter und Rosi Hermann Malanser Completer 2005
Thanks to my parents. In contrast to Adolf Boner's amazing renditions of Malanser Completer from ungrafted vines, this shows why the variety has lost its nimbus in the Swiss Rhine Valley. It is hard to categorise, which seems just about its only characteristic. A firm and “well-structured” (here exceptionally in the sense of solid mid-palate impact and backbone only) wine on entry, it has no fruit, little minerality, tastes rather bland, is backed by solid acidity (which is not at all bothersome) and faint tannin, then finishes abruptly. It does not seem badly made, or stem from a lesser vintage, at least insofar as it does not taste underripe, but has less strawy-herbaceous “complexity” than the 2000. Maybe it will become more attractive with bottle age (Completer is known to age – if not improve than at least keep – for a very long time). My father liked it, by the way, and insists on holding on to a couple of bottles. Rating: 82+/-?
Hugel Tokay Pinot Gris Vendange Tardive 1990
From half bottle. Bright yellow-gold. Nicely fresh walnut, straw, candied lemon rind, aged pear. Sweaty chalk as of a Vouvray. Quite full-bodied and glyceric. Quite full-bodied and glyceric, but not too concentrated. The balance, body and especially the acidity struck me as most typical of the vintage. The slightly elevated alcohol (not atypical in Hugel VT, at least at the time) is just integrated enough. The good news is that this remains quite youthful. But this could be both more interesting and intense. Fruitier, fresher, more balanced, with a more refreshing green hazelnut top note after 12 hours in the fridge, and perhaps a tiny bit more complex. Rating: ~88
Roger Jung Riesling Schoenenbourg Cuvée Léna 2000
Thanks to my parents, from whose cellar this tastes less evolved than it did from the producer’s own in August. Lightly off-dry with a slight hole in the middle, the florality is getting more blurred and superficial. Rating: 86-
Keller Riesling Spätlese #22 Dalsheimer Hubacker 2002
Thanks to Márta. Not too different from when last tasted at release, perhaps a fraction less precise, there is an ever so slight hole in the middle. Medium-floral apple of medium density, faint viscosity, quite nice stone-dusty minerality, soft but fairly aromatic acidity, medium-plus length. Rating: 87
Kuoni-Bisculm Maienfelder Blauburgunder Wii 2005
Thanks to my parents. Medium, nicely glossy ruby, soft black reflections. Glyceric earthy/grey peppery, curranty raspberry, undisturbed by oak. Not too complex but tasty enough. Medium-plus body and length. Fair QPR. Rating: 86
Silvio Nardi Brunello di Montalcino 2002
Tasted in passing at a local wine shop, where the bottle was uncorked after I was asked if I would be interested in tasting the wine (the 2002 currently being available there on special offer). Medium-light ruby. Pleasant if light, already evolved enough to be enjoyed now, red-fruity, only faintly orangey so far, tasty little wine of barely medium intensity and little finesse, medium-light body, fair enough length. Less compressed by oak than earlier light Nardi vintages. Rating: 85-
Ponsot Chapelle-Chambertin 1997
A bottle I opened for Márta and my parents. Ruby-black, soft amber hue. Roast beef juice, pepper, jammy raspberry with a touch of Tarocco (rather than Moro) blood orange. Tiny pheasant, dried tarragon, autumnal leaves finesse notes, more undergrowth with airing. Impressively long finish. Not the raciness and cut, nor ultimately terroir expression of the greatest vintages, but a fine 1997. Reasonably close to maturity, if perhaps not yet quite there. Rating: 91+/92?
János Puklus Tokaji Muskotály Aszúeszencia Szentkereszt Dülö 1999
Thanks to Remo. 10.5% alcohol. Amber-orange colour. Quite oxidized with a tannic rancio dryness to very viscous and variety-typical tangerine rind, cedary-dried bee’s wax and roasted almond. Quite good complexity, mixed candied citrus fruit, mild date and white chocolate, orangey-tangerine-like acidity. Faint dried porcini, egg yolk and Cognac finesse notes. Fairly concentrated, if without the grip and density of the best. Quite good body and length. Somewhat too oxidized stylistically, but this is not bad at all, plus pure Muscat de Lunel-based AEs are exceedingly rare. Rating: 89+?
Fattoria Valtellina Chianti Classico 1999
Thanks to my parents. What my mother claims is “Chianti as it should be!” Full ruby-red with a soft black hue. Lovely mulled wine spice, truffle and some raisins soaked in nicely sweet cherry liqueur. Classically austere, mouthwatering, quite flavourful acid backbone, still slightly hard tannin. A bit viscous. Nice body. Balanced finish of medium-plus length. Soft blood orange aftertaste. Rating: 89+?
Château Villeneuve Saumur-Champigny Le Grand Clos 1996
Deep, almost opaque ruby-black. Stone-dusty graphite, mature and a bit dry cherry, lightly tobacco-scented Cabernet Franc leafiness, medium-plus body, balanced Loire Cabernet Franc with quite crisp acidity and tannin. Slightly dry, tannic and herbaceous finish that is not too long. Nicely firm, more harmonious with airing, showing not only more mouth-watering acids, but also more tobacco and sweetness, albeit of cured beef meatiness rather than fruit. Best enjoyed with food. Tasty, but not one to hold onto for much longer, this lacks the backbone and extra stuffing of e.g. Foucault’s Les Poyeux and Le Bourg from the same vintage. Rating: 89-
Daniel Vollenweider Riesling Auslese #5 Wolfer Goldgrube “Reiler” 2006
Reiler being a parcel within the Goldgrube. From half bottle. Showing just as well as at the release tasting in May. Medium-pale yellow-green. Rather sweet and very botrytised (and a nicely clean 2006 in this regard). Concentrated blossoms include a top note of cherry blossoms. Pinapple, lemon-zesty bitter note, complex, attractive. Soft dark slate. Medium-soft but highly aromatic acidity. Quite long. Very tasty! Rating: 91+?
Wegeler Riesling Spätlese Trocken Winkeler Hasensprung 2004
Thanks to Matthias. Screw cap. Nicely firm and dry, barely fruity, mildly minerally, enough extract, not alcoholic. Rating: 84
Greetings from Switzerland, David.
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„J'ai gâché vingt ans de mes plus belles années au billard. Si c'était à refaire, je recommencerais.“ – Roger Conti