There was a little bit of flocculent sediment floating around when I brought the bottle in, but it settled out nicely. The cork came out with no problem, though it was fairly wet. Not much aroma at first, but the first taste said it was fine. After an hour, the dusty-sweetish-flowery aroma that I associate with Angelo's Old Vine came out. The glass poured for supper was really pretty.
Lemon and melon and some of the dustiness of maturity on the tongue, some sort of tropical or spring flowers in the nose. If you didn't read the label, you'd have no idea of oak. Long, even, and a very smooth, almost oily finish, leaving a bit of melon behind.
I paid $9.00 for this wine in July 2001. Somehow, the alcohol content didn't find its way onto the label. No matter - it has no particular heat.
The variety isn't named because it's unknown. That hurt the saleability, and the vines weren't producing much either.
The vines were taken out after the '99 vintage. I have one bottle of '99 left.
The good stuff doesn't last forever, but it does last longer than you might think.
