From the past couple of weeks....
Vercesi del Castellazzo, Oltrepo Pavese "Gugiarolo" - Pinot Nero Bianco I beleive this is the 2002 and yes, that's right, a white wine made from pinot noir grapes. Very white-gold colored, with a spicy gooseberry nose. Not much on the charmless palate beyond tartish lemon drops and a dry, chalky, linden-flower finish. Rather short and sour. 13.5% alcohol. B
Pesquera, Ribera del Duero, Crianza, 1991 I love old-time Pesquera and this one did not disappoint. Still depply dusty plum red in color, there are cinnamon laced plums on the nose. Plums, blackcurrants, with bottle sweetness...quite smooth. Similar in weight and feel to old claret. In the finish there's almost a mouvedre-like sweaty saddle quality. Polish with rusticity. 13% A- / 91
Zind-Humbrecht, Gerwurztraminer, Herrenweg Turckheim, 1989, vendange tardive Out of the old stash comes this deeply golden colored monster. Bitter almonds and faint peach on the nose. Very thick and unctious in texture when poured; I wonder how much glycerin is in this? Peach and apricot pits, some lychee, and a lingering bitter almond finish. A sweet, almost burnt palm sugar in there as well. Points given more for intensity of the experience than for complexity or drinkability. I feel this would have been better from 3-6 years ago. B+ / 89
Brigaldara, Amarone della Valpolicella, 1998 A dark dusty almost maroonish red. Takes awhile to open up, but when it does it reveals lovely aromas of mulberries, dusty Itlaian plums and fresh picked field tobacco. These echo in the mouth, along with smoky cherry, licorice, and spicy mulled plums with a warm finish. Very tight at the moment and could use a few years, but maybe not much more, since the tannins are chalky instead of stern. B+ / 89
Chateau Montrose, Saint Estephe, 1986 Claret red with bricking. This almost smells mildly corked when first opened, but hey, it's been 18 years in the bottle and it simply needs to wake up from it's slumber. Cassis and cedar buried in a tough wall of tannin but this opens up more with air and the glass 2 hours later tastes better than the first, with good concentration and lots of intense smoke, black cherry, blackcurrant, and the leather-cedary thing going on as well. Young by several years. If I had another bottle, I'd wait 3-5 years before opening again, but if you do now, DECANT. A- / 90-91
Chateau Raymond-Lafon, Sauternese, 1989 Simple notes for a delicious desert wine: apricot and peach, candied orange-tangerine with tons of botrytis, some caramel and maple syrup toffee. Nice finsih. A / 92
Technical question: When I opened up the newsgroup this am there were no threads. Even in summer I cannot believe nobody has written in over a week. Anybody else experiencing this?
Mark S