TN: 2005 Bodegas AAlto Ribera del Duero AAlto

2005 Bodegas AAlto Ribera del Duero AAlto - I had considered this Ribera del Duero for my recent Spanish wine lunch but opted for older and presumably more mature wines. I decided to try a bottle as I hadn't tasted it since the mid 2000s. It turned out to be truly excellent, showing great depth of colour, starting with the odours you get when you open a cedar lined moth chest (if anyone still uses those today), and followed by some pipe tobacco notes (from the humidor, not burning in a pipe). In the mouth it was smooth and had excellent length, showing a lengthy finish. Reminded me of a very good, big Zin or petite sirah except that the tannins weren't as hard as the latter and the fruit not as sweet as the former. A really excellent wine sadly now selling around $130 a bottle locally for more current vintages. The good thing about this wine is apparent from the review; that bad part is that I'd only bought 6!

[Jenise]

You probably did yourself a favor, Bill; considering how much wine you own six should do you just fine!

I'll be sure to include this one if we repeat the same theme next year!

I tend to estimate how long a wine will last and buy to suit. Mostly it works out pretty well - I have 10 bottles left of 1995 Chave Hermitage, and half cases of a couple of dozen other 90s Northern Rhones that will last through the next decade+ quite easily, for instance. And no, I won't claim that I have a case of the Clape

Once in awhile a mistake is made and something matures more quickly, but blind tastings are a great way to keep an eye on things.

[Jenise]

Life span of the wine isn't the problem. But life span of you might be!

[David M. Bueker]

Life span of the wine isn't the problem. But life span of you might be!

My dad’s cellar is proof of that!