Started drinking after an approximately 1 hour decant. Started off pretty tertiary with dried tobacco, old leather and desiccated red blossom and Potpourri notes. It hang around that stage for a while until eventually making it towards the second half of the bottle where it slowly started to reveal a fruit profile with mild layers of dark black and maraschino cherries. A slight medicinal character was noticable, revealing a pretty tremendous level of complexity as it continued to evolve. The bottle has aged very well and no signs of undesirable oxidation or other off notes were detectable. Structure was very refined with plenty of acidity left to carry the aromatics. This wine is still performing quite well, although I'm not expecting for it to continue much longer on that path. I believe it has probably reached peak maturity, I can't see it improve any further from this point. If you like a persistent fruit profile in your Nebbiolos, then it has probably surpassed its peak already. Nonetheless a very complex and enjoyable wine!
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Golden color showing in the glass, a sign of bottle development or is it the Semillon? Tertiaries on the nose - beeswax, ginger candy, butterscotch biscuits. Dried pineapple and grapefruit zest. Lots of acidity, lots of freshness in the wine despite some indications of bottle age, lovely finish. Bone dry. This is in a very enjoyable stage right now although I can imagine that it will definitely improve gaining even more complexity over the next 5-10 years.
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Bottle was in very good condition with an ullage at base neck, clean foil, cork came out easily with the Durand revealing about only 40% cork creep. The wine showed a clean nose from the beginning, PNP. Started to really shine around 30-45 minutes after opening. Great conditon, has evolved beautifully still showing a good amount of fresh currant fruit and desiccated cherries. Lots of layers of dried herbs and spices, tobacco leaves, oregano, tea leaves, ground cinnamon. Wonderfully complex. Palate demonstrated very refined silky tannins and a strong acidic backbone providing ample freshness to the wine. Unanimously voted WOTN amongst some other Cali Bordeaux blends and classed growth left bank Bordeaux. Hardly gets any better. Definitely performing at peak level now but looks like it can handle a few more years.
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1998 Gaja Langhe Nebbiolo Costa Russi
12/14/2023 - Maximilian7 Likes this wine: 94 Points
Started drinking after an approximately 1 hour decant. Started off pretty tertiary with dried tobacco, old leather and desiccated red blossom and Potpourri notes. It hang around that stage for a while until eventually making it towards the second half of the bottle where it slowly started to reveal a fruit profile with mild layers of dark black and maraschino cherries. A slight medicinal character was noticable, revealing a pretty tremendous level of complexity as it continued to evolve. The bottle has aged very well and no signs of undesirable oxidation or other off notes were detectable. Structure was very refined with plenty of acidity left to carry the aromatics. This wine is still performing quite well, although I'm not expecting for it to continue much longer on that path. I believe it has probably reached peak maturity, I can't see it improve any further from this point. If you like a persistent fruit profile in your Nebbiolos, then it has probably surpassed its peak already. Nonetheless a very complex and enjoyable wine!
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2006 Domaine de Chevalier Blanc
3/22/2023 - Maximilian7 Likes this wine: 92 Points
Golden color showing in the glass, a sign of bottle development or is it the Semillon? Tertiaries on the nose - beeswax, ginger candy, butterscotch biscuits. Dried pineapple and grapefruit zest. Lots of acidity, lots of freshness in the wine despite some indications of bottle age, lovely finish. Bone dry. This is in a very enjoyable stage right now although I can imagine that it will definitely improve gaining even more complexity over the next 5-10 years.
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1984 Shafer Cabernet Sauvignon Hillside Select
3/18/2023 - Maximilian7 Likes this wine: 97 Points
Bottle was in very good condition with an ullage at base neck, clean foil, cork came out easily with the Durand revealing about only 40% cork creep. The wine showed a clean nose from the beginning, PNP. Started to really shine around 30-45 minutes after opening. Great conditon, has evolved beautifully still showing a good amount of fresh currant fruit and desiccated cherries. Lots of layers of dried herbs and spices, tobacco leaves, oregano, tea leaves, ground cinnamon. Wonderfully complex. Palate demonstrated very refined silky tannins and a strong acidic backbone providing ample freshness to the wine. Unanimously voted WOTN amongst some other Cali Bordeaux blends and classed growth left bank Bordeaux. Hardly gets any better. Definitely performing at peak level now but looks like it can handle a few more years.
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