Abadia Retuerta Sardon de Duero Rívola 2001
Remains a tasty and healthy-looking blend of 60% Tempranillo and 40% Cabernet Sauvignon from a great vintage, grown on limestone-rich soil, aged 10 months in French and American oak, and bottled unfiltered. The oak is extremely well integrated now. There is good complexity to the still youthful fruit, including that touch of blackcurrant. The acids may be gaining the upper hand, albeit at a snail’s pace. Terrific QPR buy at the time. Rating: 89-/88
Azienda Agricola Brigaldara Amarone della Valpolicella 2006
As well-made, ripe and rich as this is, we found it beyond warming at 16.5% alcohol, if just short of hot, then still rather overbearing. Clean and pure chocolaty raisins, with a Châteauneuf-du-Pape like surmaturité of violety Kirsch. Fairly long on the finish. Prunier and more tannic 12 hours later, then again sweeter, fruitier and fresher, with some of the alcohol blown off and no sign of undue oxidation after 24 hours. The single-vineyard version of this wine tends to cope with/integrate its yet higher alcohol rather better. The QPR of the “generic” Amarone is probably unbeatable in this category, that is, provided one does not mind the alcohol, apart from which there is nothing wrong with it. Rating: 88+/89-?
Azienda Agricola Brigaldara Recioto della Valpolicella 2003
Lovely, same as always really. Retains that full, glossy and still faintly purple ruby with soft black reflections. The earlier heat due to the high 15.5% alcohol is blows off within minutes after the cork is pulled now. A well-balanced Recioto with good complexity, sweetly raisiny (not pruney at all) in a clean and pure way, mildly milk chocolaty, with good body and length. Softly tannic. Nicely mouthwatering if soft acidity. Terrific QPR. From what I have tasted it now seems to me in hindsight that 2003 may have been a greater Recioto than Amarone vintage in general (even if I have only tasted a handful of Reciotos and many more Amarones). Rating: 92
Tenuta Caparzo Brunello di Montalcino 1993
A more evolved bottle, albeit fresh and firm. Full garnet-ruby-black, slight orange rim. Nice concentration, lightly truffley black cherry and dried blood orange fruit. Nice acidity and quite racy and black tea like, if faintly dusty-dry tannin that seemed barely oak-induced tannin this time. Nice body and length. Rating: 90-/89(-?)
Casa al Vento (Cristina & Kurt Haller) Vino da Tavola Tosco 2006
A bottle from our collection, bought at release and coolly stored ever since, was as good as usual – quite red-fruity, not too high-acid, uncomplicated little wine, nicely natural-flavoured. Rating: 86(-?)
Graham's Vintage Port Malvedos 1987
A perfectly stored half bottle. Healthy, full ruby-black, soft watery amber at the rim. Still fairly viscous, fruity and sweet, strongly cedary-pruney and lightly tobacco-scented table grape and overripe strawberry flavours. Minor volatility that makes this come across as a bit more high-acid than it is, and an earthy, it at this stage still medium bitter to some blood orange rind. Fairly nice tannin, medium-plus body and medium at best length. With airing lightly waxy resiny-chocolatey raisins. Some licorice-flavoured forest floor on the aftertaste. Still nice, but no longer improving, at least not in this format. Rating: 88-
Hubert Lignier Morey-Saint-Denis 1er Cru Vieilles Vignes 1995
A bottle I opened for my parents – my mother got to choose a wine to accompany her birthday and all she wanted was a bottle of Lignier from the good old days... Firm and lively, like subtly spiced fresh blood, complex mixed forest berries and iron, backed by acidity and tannin with freshness and cut, mouth-cleansing, very long, firm yet finesseful. Rating: 93
Guy Wach Riesling Kastelberg 2008
Significantly more cut and minerality than the Moenchberg. An altogether brighter, livelier and more intense Riesling, as usual. Quite sharply-etched fruit. Lovely stone dust. Firm acidity. Not the greatest vintage perhaps, but clearly a success. Rating: 89+?
Guy Wach Riesling Moenchberg 2008
Some floral ripeness to the fruit, soft minerality and faint bitter note, quite good expression of terroir. Fair amount of acidity. Medium-plus concentration and body, medium at best length. Rating: 88-?
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