Argiano Brunello di Montalcino Riserva 1990
A bottle I opened for Remo. Quite glossy garnet-ruby-black with an orange hue and slight orange at the rim. Remains Pomerol-like if with mouthwatering acidity, prettily smoky fruit, racy orange and cherry, a touch of dried porcini, a little dried oregano and thyme, faint oiled leather, good complexity, tasty tannin, without the toughness of some 1990s. Faintest marzipan oak note on the back end. Fairly long finish. Aeration brought about some attractive minerality, and impressive sweetness. A nicely mouth-cleansing, food-friendly and well-balanced Brunello in its prime time drinking phase, perhaps best enjoyed within the next few years. Rating: 92-/91
Robert Weil Riesling Auslese Gold Capsule #008 Kiedricher Gräfenberg 1993
Half bottle thanks to Remo. 8.5% alcohol. Full, rather deep golden yellow-orange. Intense sweet saffron, chamomile and dandelion, brown bread botrytis and bakery spices, complex candied tropical yellow fruit mix, mango, lemon oil, lightly roasted pineapple, enormously oily-viscous, sweet and thick for an Auslese, but then, this is really a BA with ever-so-slightly more body. Rather mouth-puckering, passion-fruity acidity, fine tiny lemon zest bitter note, increasingly complex minerality, quite long on the finish. Partly dried-fruity, but shows some subtlety despite size, intensity and youth. Not yet the mid-palate density of later Weil top vintages such as 1996, but beyond most other producers’ top Auslesen (or BAs). Drinking nicely, but could use more bottle age. Rating: 94+/95(+?)
Greetings from Switzerland, David.