Abadia Retuerta Sardon de Duero Rívola 2001
Thanks to my parents, an exceptional QPR find I once bought for them. Just an update tasting note, it is doing very well in bottle, will still keep, but of course is drinking very well now (and has since release). Tastes exactly like what it is, a blend of 80% Tempranillo and 20% Cabernet Sauvignon grown on limestone-rich soil, aged 10 months in French and American oak, and bottled unfiltered: not at all offensively modern in style, barely oaky anymore at his stage, fairly fresh and racy, it retains a full, healthy colour, some fruit of perfect ripeness, nice finely-grained tannin, and fair enough acidity. Quite complex, even serious, especially for the money. Soft chalky minerality. Impressively resistant to oxidation, this merely grew in length with airing. Wow! Rating: 89-/88
Castello di Argiano Brunello di Montalcino Riserva 1990
My last bottle, which I opened for Nicole and Remo, and served in sizeable Riedel Bordeaux Sommelier stems, surface and room aplenty which the perfumy wine filled with ease. Right up there with the best bottles from a case I bought at release, this wine, to my knowledge Argiano’s last Riserva, showed so much better than at the 1990 Brunello horizontal in London a month before. Maybe mature wine, or some, should not be moved before consumption, or not within a huge time span (the Brunelli were sent to London weeks in advance, but still). Reminds me of the fact that each and every bottle of 1976 Fonseca-Guimaraens I have opened in the last few years at home was significantly more perfumy, sweet and harmonious than any I took elsewhere, and that is not just an impression: several of my friends noticed and commented on it. If there is indeed a “travel shock” phenomenon (and I am sure there is), it appears to affect mature (or at least older) wine much more severely. Now, I realize this will not be new to anyone, and that I have mentioned this many times before. But I may be forgiven to cite potential travel shock as a reason to perhaps bring something youthful and primary to a next offline gathering. Older and in particular mature wine from great storage simply deserves all the respect it can get, I think. Even if, as in this case, it was really quite cheap when I bought it. Remo even asked why I did not buy several cases at release, and indeed, I should have. Ruby-red colour, soft black hue and pink-orange rim. Some fresh cork rind scented oak left. Lovely sweetness of faintly leathery, Pomerol-like floral and perfumed redcurrant, soft and round, complex herbs, lovely finesse, soft Asian spices. Went perfectly well with the Vietnamese sweet and sour. Still tannic and faintly dry, but not at all tough. Good blood-orangey acidity. Long fruity-subtle finish and aftertaste. Nicole and Remo simply loved it. While this could be cellared for a few more years, it is slowly approaching the downhill slope. Rating: 91-
Beaucastel Châteauneuf-du-Pape 1998
Ordered from the wine list of one of our favourite local restaurants on my dad’s birthday, but where wine is being stored a bit too warmly, thus an exceptionally evolved bottle, with a glossy ruby-black colour with minor orange at the rim. Bretty especially on the nose, but also on the palate, but clearly not off in any way, rather old style Burgundian my mother said, sweet, ripe, round and smooth, complex and long on the finish, with warming alcohol but without undue heat. The difference in evolvement between this and bottles from my personal stash may be shocking (mine remain almost undrinkably youthful), but it was as if we got a glimpse at the wine’s future, and even if not, it was irresistibly tasty. Rating: 94(+?)
Casanova di Neri Brunello di Montalcino 1993
Thanks to my parents, their last bottle. Medium-full ruby colour, some black reflections, retains good gloss. Mature meaty cherry and soft herbs. Medium complexity and finesse. Tannin that is almost completely dissolved and now fairly for Brunello. The per se soft (for Sangiovese) acidity is nonetheless surfacing now that the fruit and tannin wear off. Remains refreshing enough, and quite mouth-cleansing, always been a food-friendly wine. Medium length on the finish and softly sweet cherry and charcoal aftertaste. Not old, but certainly not improving anymore. Rating: 88-
DeLio Amarone della Valpolicella 2005
Thanks to my parents. Nicely coloured, modern in the sense that it is clean, superficial, and just tastes as if (Oops!) made from raisined grapes (ironically more Amarone-like wines come from regions in which grapes are not laid out to shrivel these days). Polished in a simplified manner, but not especially oaky. There is some tannin, even acidity, both lacking in flavour and finesse. The 15% alcohol integrates well. Medium length. Got a little sweeter with airing, though hardly more serious. Rating: 85+?
Fattoria di Felsina Chianti Classico Berardenga 2004
Thanks to my parents. Deep ruby-black, virtually opaque. Sweeter and fruitier than most vintages, noticeably more of an accessible style and/or warmer climate effort stylistically, if still with more underlying (attractive!) rusticity than most modern Chiantis. Some charcoal and nutty oak. Good minerals and metals. Good thickness to the fruit. “Still down to earth enough” my dad said (my mom, whose favourite Chianti producer this is or was, is not quite so convinced). Promising cellar candidate, even if drinking acceptably (rather than disturbingly) well for young Berardenga. Rating: 89+?
Maximin Grünhaus Riesling Auslese #23 Grünhäuser Abtsberg 2007
That is the standard AP-#23, not a numbered Fuder (their Gold Capsule designation) Auslese! Thanks to Remo, the wine we had watching this year’s Wimbledon men’s final (absolutely awesome playing from both competitors, that is simultaneous near-perfection on both sides for once, in the last three sets, after Federer lost a second set in which he had Nadal in the ropes but made three consecutive unforced errors in a row and thus gave Nadal three break chances at 4-2, the worst serve game either of us has ever seen in professional tennis and at the worst possible moment, even accounting for the new balls – we gobbled up almost the whole bottle there out of frustration, ironically Nadal fan Remo could not stand what we saw there even more than me, who basically wants to see matches won rather than lost: “Make them earn it!” as Irving Crane used to say, give-aways are so boring to watch). Pale yellow-green colour. Lovely grassy-herbal lime and apple of good complexity, nice minerality, acidity with cut, soft CO2. Tiny blackcurrant top note with airing. Ultimately just a fraction light in concentration (not badly so) and probably dry extract, a not too sweet food Riesling in the long(er) run, I guess. Just fair enough length. Liked it rather better than at the release tasting. Rating: 88+/~89
Vrignaud Chablis 2007
Thanks to my parents. One of the blandest Chardonnays I have tasted in a while. Light, ripe, some acidity. Watery-smooth. Lacks, intensity and cut, not to mention minerality. I might have guessed Chasselas. Rating: 79(+?)
Guy Wach Domaine des Marronniers Riesling Kastelberg 2004
Thanks to my parents again. Same as last time, the baby fat makes this very enjoyable to drink, while a little more bottle age would not hurt. Rating: 88+/89?
Weinbach Pinot Gris Cuvée Ste-Cathérine 2004
A wine I forgot about since I bought some at release. Ideal with the creaminess of my suprême of sole (actually used Dover sole and of course the same wine, as one should), quite elegant, uncomplicated yet serious enough, not too light. Golden hay, faint nuts and a tiny bitter note as of underripe quince, tiny botrytis smoothness or oiliness. Fair enough freshness and length. It is really a matter of taste, but I like my Pinot Gris young, crisp and not yet too nutty, unless it is a botrytised late harvest sticky. Rating: 87-
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