Dec 23, 2005 - Holiday Drinking.
1994 - Vega Sicilia Valbuena No.5
Interesting fruit aromas on opening but acidic & sour notes coming through. With air grew progressively more acidic. Wine did not seem corked - storage conditions seemed decent. Might have been an off bottle but this is a poor showing especially compared to its big brother - Unico... 85pts??
1995 - Pichon Comtesse de Lalande - Puillac
Opened with very promising notes of black fruit - somewhat muted, short on the palate and length - served straight out of the cellar. Over time ( approx. 1hour ) with air and higher temperatures it opened up and showed more of the classic Puillac character and with a "feminine" soft character. Green peppers, faint hint of pencil shavings and tobacco. Mid Palate filled out and finish was better though still a bit on the short sight. Probably can do with 3-5 more years in the cellar. 94+ pts.
1989 - Chateau La Fluer Petrus- Pomerol.
Drink up. Its probably hit the maturity plateau and going downhill at this point. Fine , sweet tannins, liqourice and a bit of herbaceous. finish a bit on the short side. 88pts.
2002 - Alois Kracher #12 - Austria.
This was very promising on the nose and the viscosity of the liquid was like some honeys. This was almost painful tasting - hints of citrus/lemon/apricots but the sugar level and viscocity just overwhelmed and annoyed me a bit too much. There is very high acidity here but still not good enough to counter the sweetness and viscocity. 4% alcohol residual sugars through the roof. Ouch! - If there is something as too much of a good thing - this is it. Verdict => Unbalanced. No idea how this will evolve or improve in the future - probably will take 50 years. Right now its no fun drinking - 88pts. Probably deserves more from the point of technical achievement. Revisit in 20 years??!!
Interesting fruit aromas on opening but acidic & sour notes coming through. With air grew progressively more acidic. Wine did not seem corked - storage conditions seemed decent. Might have been an off bottle but this is a poor showing especially compared to its big brother - Unico... 85pts??
1995 - Pichon Comtesse de Lalande - Puillac
Opened with very promising notes of black fruit - somewhat muted, short on the palate and length - served straight out of the cellar. Over time ( approx. 1hour ) with air and higher temperatures it opened up and showed more of the classic Puillac character and with a "feminine" soft character. Green peppers, faint hint of pencil shavings and tobacco. Mid Palate filled out and finish was better though still a bit on the short sight. Probably can do with 3-5 more years in the cellar. 94+ pts.
1989 - Chateau La Fluer Petrus- Pomerol.
Drink up. Its probably hit the maturity plateau and going downhill at this point. Fine , sweet tannins, liqourice and a bit of herbaceous. finish a bit on the short side. 88pts.
2002 - Alois Kracher #12 - Austria.
This was very promising on the nose and the viscosity of the liquid was like some honeys. This was almost painful tasting - hints of citrus/lemon/apricots but the sugar level and viscocity just overwhelmed and annoyed me a bit too much. There is very high acidity here but still not good enough to counter the sweetness and viscocity. 4% alcohol residual sugars through the roof. Ouch! - If there is something as too much of a good thing - this is it. Verdict => Unbalanced. No idea how this will evolve or improve in the future - probably will take 50 years. Right now its no fun drinking - 88pts. Probably deserves more from the point of technical achievement. Revisit in 20 years??!!
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