3/20/24, 5:11 AM - Good day! Loved your note, excellent description of both the taste as wine and disposition as Sherry. EN24 is of course similar, although I think a little more intense. Regarding your split scoring,EN does note that the style apparently does not fit either Fino or Amontillado as officially defined. Cheers!
5/13/21, 10:14 AM - Good day! Just to note, For an LdH Reserva, 2004 is not at all a "very old" Rioja. Fro example, the current stock in the USA is 2008; 2009 is still pre-arrival. LdH simply ages and holds their wine for a very long time, and while they are certainly "ready" whenever you buy them, a minimum of 15 years from release (so, perhaps 25 years from vintage) should be expected of wonderful drinking, and likely substantially longer (I am still enjoying a few 1970 reservas, there is little risk that a well-stored bottle would be too old). Enjoy!
12/9/20, 5:57 AM - Thanks for the note! Just to mention, all LdH corks are stamped "Tondonia" because that is their first vineyard and is part of their name (Bodegas López de Heredia Viña Tondonia).
8/1/20, 2:40 PM - Good day!. Is been a while since I've had this wine, but it definitely is a Posada, with a fairly deep color and intensity, yours does not sound mishandled. Very much enjoy your notes!
5/9/20, 7:31 AM - Hi, Acidqueen!. I made the comment of this wine being cloudy, i am sure you are correct that this was sediment, but never occurred to me to decant it and by the time I walked it upstairs and opened the bottle no doubt it would have been pointless anyhow. Still, I don't think it bothered our drinking, the wine was delicious as expected. We seem to share a lot of tastes in wine, Macle is a favorite. Cheers!
3/25/20, 9:26 AM - This wine sounds nice! I am not an expert, but I think in fact that Champagne is very unusual in France in that they are allowed to blend red and white wine to make rose, and that this is usual (but not exclusively) the practice in Champagne. In most/all other French appellations rose cannot be made with blending finished red and white wine.
3/23/20, 12:46 PM - Good day! Not sure if you have gotten to that next bottle, just a couple of observations: Maybe it will be better; although I personally have not, many folks have experienced considerable bottle variation. Also, Jura wines in general, and Bourdy's in particular, present an unusual flavor profile, and especially the reds I can see described as "tart", but still they might be very proper. It is certainly possible that a sound bottle might not be to your taste, but if you are prepared for it you might find it more enjoyable, especially if paired with a suitable food (I would suggest highly savory and maybe somewhat fatty, like cassoulet or confit duck). Good luck!
3/2/20, 12:35 PM - We just drank this a couple of days ago, found it difficult to describe usefully but you did a bang up job matching oUr experience, thanks!
9/16/19, 6:50 AM - Good day! Sorry your bottle disappointed, I have had 5 of these, and while they are not a "great" drink, they have all been enjoyed and sound. Also, as you have speculated, lots of air time helped bring the flavors into balance, and a long stand-up and decanted are really necessary. I noted my most recent bottle had 2+ inches of sediment at the bottom, I would not have wanted that mixed into my glass.
5/20/19, 7:48 AM - Good day! As others have noted, you may have had a bad bottle, or you may simply not like the style, but this wine is certainly not past its prime. LdH releases wines at the beginning of their (typically, very long) drinking window. The current release is 2006, for example; 2004 is still widely available at very near its original release price.
4/10/19, 4:19 AM - Good day! From my experience, your description is spot-on. I also note that Labet's wines, although I think very well-made, are mostly aged in topped-up barrels, so indeed they do not show that Jura oxidative tang (which I personally miss, but that is just my taste).
4/7/19, 7:17 PM - Haha thanks, will correct. I have the Barolo also of this vintage but have not tasted it yet.
4/4/19, 4:08 AM - Good day! Sorry you were disappointed with this wine, i have found this producer very reliable. I note that yours was poured cloudy, nebbiolo sediment is notoriously unpleasant. I drink a lot of older nebbiolo, sometimes several weeks upright are required for them to decant clear, hope your next bottle is better.
11/9/18, 6:00 AM - Good day! I am wondering from your note, did you taste the wine? A few comments: individuals are variously sensitive to volatile acidity and of course perceive aromas distinctly; since this is a solera wine, there is unlikely to be much bottle variation (at least at the time of bottling), also the aging under yeast flor is an excellent preventative to VA-producing bacteria. Just wondering, perhaps the wine was sound but also very much unexpected flavor and aroma profile. Cheers!
11/9/18, 8:58 AM - Sorry to hear, sounds like a bad bottle somehow.
4/22/18, 8:24 AM - Good day! While I cannot claim any expertise, LdH is my favorite producer, we drink a couple cases/year of their great wines. I am pretty confident that they are about the last producer in the world who would change their winemaking for early drinking (and almost only LdH would be considered “early drinking” at 16 years!). They do of course have vintage variation, but my guess is you just like them better older, as do I. Cheers!
4/14/18, 4:35 AM - I think you will find that all LdH corks are branded "Tondonia" as they regard it as their home (and monopole) vineyard, and it is part of their name (check the label).
2/19/18, 4:24 PM - FWIW, i would be very confident this wine will age for many years, i believe this is their current release. Cheers!
2/16/18, 2:15 PM - Thanks so much for additional information on the geology and name, I tried researching the "Mandelskopf" part and pretty much turned up that it no longer seems to be bottled, but no explanation of the designation. We were enjoying this wine at a tasting restaurant, so I didn't really note the details, just the high quality.
2/4/18, 9:53 AM - Hi, i miss your blog, but am glad you are still drinking so many wines that i love. Thanks for posting this, i seem to be otherwise the last man drinking #15. I somewhat advanced the drinking window of my remaining bottles as the last one seemed a little too mellow, but your note is encouraging. Hope all is well!
10/30/17, 9:59 AM - Nice note, glad you enjoyed this wine! If indeed your bottle was a 1973 it would have this marking on the label: https://cdn.ct-static.com/labels/784727.jpg . The explanation from Maria Lopez de Heredia is that 11/81 is the bottling date, so the primary wine was probably racked into aging casks in the spring of 1974 and bottled 7+ years later. Bear in mind that this 5 anos designation is typically a blend of a few years, LdH considers it "1973" because that is the primary constituent.
10/31/17, 7:31 AM - I have one other bottle for which Mairia provided this: G G 100 000 4 75: Year 1968sounds like G.G. 6 78 would be somewhere in between like 1970/71
10/24/16, 6:27 AM - Good day! This page: http://www.sherrynotes.com/sherry-types/palo-cortado/ offers I believe two items which contribute to the distinction: the "official" expected taste profile of PC, and the generalized origin. I would supplement this with my understanding gathered over a few years, which is that amontillado, referring to "the way they do it in Montilla-Moriles" (with PX grape, of course), is generally a fino (or manzanilla) pasada which has been further aged until its flor loses vitality, after which the wine is re-fortified to 19+% to kill all microbial activity, and then it is aged oxidatively, but not so long as would be an oloroso (which is entirely aged that way). Whether a palo cortado evolves as given mythically, where the flor either mysteriously disappears or the cask is determined to be otherwise atypical of fino (and so in any case it is re-fortified), or is simply created to meet the market (and presumably the definition and expected taste), because PC does not age under flor until the flor simply dies of lack of nutrients (as with amontillado), it typically does so for a much shorter period of time, and thus presents different mouthfeel and taste profiles. I hope this helps!
9/17/15, 3:35 AM - If you check my two (brief) notes, it sounds like our experiences are similar; nothing-to-worse when opened, OK but not much more later. Although I bought these intended for early drinking, after two consistent bottles, I am putting the rest of mine aside for at least another 3-5 years, I am not much worried they will deteriorate, and they may even develop into something nice.
8/16/15, 6:14 AM - As I read the notes of my 'favorite' authors (tasters whose descriptions of wines we have in common remind me of my own tastings), it seems to me that these wines have varying amounts of something growing in them. My last note included a palate with "...raw meat and sweat, probably some brett", while I rated it 86, this just means that I drank it, anything below 85 (for me) would have been tossed or cooked with. Anyhow, whatever the organism, it seems your bottles have a lot (and/or you are very sensitive), mine had a little, and perhaps some folks had none. And I see that my 2 remaining bottles were assigned to my 'cooking' bin after the previous tasting, so I am certainly at least broadly in agreement with you.
6/28/15, 2:09 PM - I agree it is hard to place what could be faulty with this kind of wine but I think your sample must have been. Your note and the other inspired me to open one and for me while this PC seems to have some idiosyncracy (a slightly sweet plate and lots of salt), it was in no way short. I hope your next sample is better!
4/20/15, 7:56 AM - Good day! I also love this wonderful wine, and just a brief note: I don't have any inside information, but this wine I believe was rolled out into international distribution only 7-10 years ago, I can't figure any reason the bottles would have been topped off, just LdH retained them in their cellars for 25 or so years.
1/19/15, 2:01 PM - I agree with the comment above, obviously it is always possible there was something amiss with your example, but also perhaps it was not considered that this wine is intended as very dry despite the use of PX grapes. The hazelnut and saline at least are exactly as I would expect.
12/19/14, 2:08 PM - Thanks, Eric, this bottle was opened and simply standing upright for about 3 hours before drinking.
10/10/14, 4:13 AM - Hi! I am no expert, and I have not tried my examples of this wine so accept this with appropriate salt, but if you have additional bottles, I am led to believe this wine might be much better in 10-20 years despite the modest price.Cheers!
8/20/14, 2:18 PM - I have not yet sampled any of my 3 bottles, but in reading yours and other notes it seems at least credible that you received some bad or mishandled bottles. I mean, there are 74 notes on this wine and while obviously there is plenty of room for personal taste (and lord knows, something like a late-picked(?) gewurztraminer might hardly be a crowd pleaser), really almost none of the other 70 sound like their wine was flawed, but all 4 of yours do. Perhaps you are due a refund? (Seriously, I am Not commenting to disagree with your findings, it just sounds like you tasted unsound wine to me.) Cheers!
8/21/14, 5:29 PM - OK, I opened a bottle of this about 3 hours ago, and tasted (and retasted) it slightly chilled. I will try again tomorrow. I also note that even far outside of CT, this is a well-regarded wine/vineyard/producer. To me, all that good, intense, ripe, tropical fruit is submerged underneath something along the lines of rotten, smoldering vegetables. I certainly don't know if this is a matter of vinification, bottle/batch variation, handling (although mine has been in my perfectly adequate passive cellar for almost 5 years now), or what, but for now I am in the "unpleasant, undrinkable" camp, and I Really Like dry, overripe dessert/apertif wines, (normally).
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