WTN: 2000 and 2001 Pesquera

[Jenise]

I'd completely forgotten these wines. I have a case of each or close-on to that minus a few that we've sampled and found lacking over the years. Should have drunk them all up when they were young and fresh. Once that threshold seemed past, we hoped that time would eventually be kind and give us back something drinkable--not because we were optimistic, but just because that was our only choice after a certain point. We opened one of each last night to see how they were doing, decanted neither. And?

Not too impressed. Both are quite bretty in the rotten egg kind of way, and the 00 is even more affected than the 01. The 01 had some stewed black cherry fruit that was quite pleasant, but it was more fervent in the first pour than in the second. Between the stewy tastes and low tannins, the wine seems quite mature and I won't hold these any longer. The 00 had more tannins, more brett as previously mentioned, little to no fruit and its predominant flavor was highly toasted oak. Which I detest. Will have to open another and see if extended airtime brings out more, but as it is: yuck. I'm really embarrassed to have wines like this in my cellar.

I just had the 2001 Pesquera last week and found it overly vegetal and almost undrinkable. I was surprised. Your bottle sounded better.

I really liked the bottles from the mid 1990s (1994-1996) then I felt things went downhill fast. I have a single 2001 in the celler that I was just looking at last night before deciding to open something else. Wish I read your note yesterday as I would have opened mine to see how it compared. Cellertracker reads like there is serious bottle variation on this wine.

[Jenise]

I just had the 2001 Pesquera last week and found it overly vegetal and almost undrinkable. I was surprised. Your bottle sounded better.

Well, now that you mention it, 'vegetal' does apply to some degree to both wines, I just didn't think to use the word--we enjoyed the wines outside with a neighborhood friend, so I wasn't being very analytical. But the 01 was definitely drinkable.

Brian, yes I loved those vintages too. And just before I bought these, I had some mid-80's vintages from another friend's cellar. Those memories no doubt influenced my thinking when I bought these two. IIRC, I'd tasted and liked the 01 a lot, so bought and then later added the 00, untasted, when I came across it at a very good price. Paid $17ish for both.

I've come to hate the words "serious bottle variation".

So opened my 2001 last night mine was nothing like you described. It did not smell of any brett nor was it vegetal at all. Still had bright fruit with great acidity and a medium frame. Actually drank way too easy if lacking a bit of complexity. Another datapoint suggesting bottle variation.

[Jenise]

Brian, thanks for reporting in. We opened another bottle of this last weekend and it was identical to your bottle rather than our first. Definitely better, and drinking well without any prompting. Did not re-try a 2000, but will soon.

Hey 20 years ago Pesquera was a very decent wine for the money. Somewhere along the line they lost their way.

Still working on my 94, 95 and 96, but have avoided them since.