95+ tasting 2005

In the short welcome speech by me, I presented the first vintage releases from Villa Sandahl in Hungary. These wines does not certainly qualify for the 95+ criteria, but most tastes found the wine pleasurable and surprisingly good to be the premiere vintage. For more information see www.villasandahl.com

No special requirements were submitted in advance for the 95+ of this year. As the wine contributions arrived I realised that red were definitely on the agenda, and it was possible to divide the 18 bottles in two flights according to age. So approximately half of the wines were older or equal to 1990 and the other flight were younger. The two extra wines were young, so the young and old flight were both 10 bottle flights :

The young flight

95 - 2000 Dom du Pegau Chateauneuf du Pape Cuvee Reservee

Medium deep colour with some orange at the rim. A slight feeling of oxidation in the smell immediately creates some suspicion, in an otherwise fruity and charming smell. The wine seem to undergo a galloping evolvement or the bottle may not be representative. The taste is delicious, round fruit but with some hardness, but otherwise in good balance. Almost everybody agreed that this is not a 95 + wine, but more like 92 - 93 points.

96 - 1998 D'Arenberg "The Dead Arm" Shiraz

Rather deep red with some brick colour. Soft and lovely Shiraz nose with typical eucalyptus tone. Blackberries and sweet liquorice, raisins and sunshine. Good, full-bodied taste in good balance, despite a touch of bitter acidity in the after taste, which I have often found from this producer. The tasters agreed of 95 - 97 points.

100 - 2001 Domaine de la Vieille Julienne CdP Cuvee Reservee

Deep red ruby colour. Sweet smell from ripe fruit, for persons with a sweet tooth. However a bit diffuse smell with some acetone. Rather marked tannins hold back the fine fruit. Very long in the finish, a very concentrated Ch Neuf. But for the moment not showing its 100 points, and most of the tasters agreed on 96 - 97 points instead.

95 - 2001 Villa Fidelia Sportoletti, Umbria

Very deep ruby red. Lovely sweet smell like the above. Fruit and deliciousness. A good balance in the taste, despite high acidity and tanning, fruit manage to cover it all. Long rich after taste. Surprisingly this was the same old Villa Fidelia we have tasted so many times (large quantities have been sold rather Sweden to a good price). Most tasters had note 97 points, with a few somewhat lower. This is significantly higher then Parker.

? - 2003 Doyen Willunga Shiraz, Arakoon, McLaren Vale

Extremely dark ruby red. Typical creamy Aussie wine with eucalyptus and pepper in the nose. Very solid and consolidated. A wonderful wine also in the taste, sturdy and frank, with balance on a high level of concentration. The surprise of the evening, a 25 € wine with screw cap catching 99 points from many tasters and nobody lower than 97. Fantastic.

96 - 100 - 2003 Mitolo Shiraz G A M, McLaren Vale

Extremely dark ruby read again. Asphalt and bacon like a good Rhone wine, open and honest in a creamy style. Most tasters found the palate being also very positive and classic. Personally I had some problem with  the taste, lacking a bit of fruit coverage. But most tasters assigned 98 points, with the exception of me and a few more that were satisfied with 95 points.

98+ - 2001 Aalto PS, Ribera Del Duero, Castilla Leon, Spain

Very dark brick red, with bluish tone. Somewhat closed in the beginning, reserved and elegant, made in a lovely Bordeaux style with oak and coffee. A very rich wine with abundant of round tannins. A very long after taste of power and potential. The tasters were a bit inhomogeneous, but nobody fell below 96 points and somebody assigned a perfect 100. This wine were, together with the Doyen wine two paragraphs above, the winners of the first fligh.

99 - 2001 Fattoria Galardi Terra di Lavoro

Very dark ruby red. A little special fluffiness and floating feeling in the nose, Attractive despite a clear dung and horse component. The taste is unfortunately too harsh to be enjoyable, its a pity when comparing the fine smell. However the fans stood the tannins and placed the wine at 96 - 98 while the more shy tasters stopped at 92 - 93 points.

97 - 2001 Turley Wine Cellars Zinfandel Hayne Vineyard

Very dark ruby with some blue tone. Flowers, marzipan and liquorice in the nose, an attractive forward style. Rich and balanced, with an unbelievable length in the after taste. Sophisticated and a lot of go at the same time. This was clearly my favourite and in my mind worth a perfect 100 points. My more sensible friends gave 97 - 99 points, not bad either.

100 - 1996 Luciano Sandrone Barolo Cannubi Boschis

Dark, almost brick red. Reserved but utterly well designed. Glossy feeling in the nose, not a sandy cabernet style. Substantially harsh, and despite everybody guessed Barolo, it appears as a surprise on the tongue. Very dry in the taste and nothing more then dryness. The Barolo fans did put 95 but the sceptically only 90 - 92 points.

The old flight

95 - 1990 Dom du Pegau Chateauneuf du Pape Cuvee Reservee

Medium dark brick red colour. A strange tinplate feeling in my nose, a kind of linoleum character I have recognised in some other traditional wines, typically in Joseph Roty's wines of Burgundy. Balanced and mature in the mouth from some tasters, but awfully tired from the other tasters. One taster believed this wine to be totally damaged and ruined hardly worth 50 points. The other end of the judgement offer 95 points to the wine.

95 - 1988 Philippe Leclerc Gevrey Chambertin les Cazetiers

Light medium brick red colour. Lush smell from a mature wine, but hardly not with the typical Burgundy characteristics of rotten strawberries. Slender-limbed in its taste, very good with fine fruit, a graceful matureness and  enough concentration. One taster despair of the wine in decline and assign 85 points, the other spread between 90 and 96 points.

96 - 1970 Vega Sicilia Unico Riserva, Vega Sicilia

Medium dark brick red. Easygoing smell from a lot of  gewgaws hiding a "Spanish" unyielding character (hard to describe in words). Some light oxidation opens up the wine rather then disturbs. Intense herbaceous smell of dill and parsley. Unexpected harsh taste emerging from the unyielding character, but nicely soften up by graceful matureness. Good combination of power and elegance. All tasters between 95 and 98. Impressive.

96 - 1966 Ch Palmer, Margaux

Medium brick orange colour. Self-controlled sweaty horse in the nose, typically classic Bordeaux in a restrained style. Lovely smoke and ripe fruit. Soft elegant taste in good harmony, with some acidity in the background. Good backbones supporting a nice structure, a reallly good classic wine. All tasters from 95 to 97 points.

96 - 1990 Quintarelli Alerzo Vino da Tavola Cabernet Franc

Dark, ruby red with a hint of brick red. Fresh amarone style in the smell, lush and pure in a very personal way, both jammy and acidulous. A smashing wine with evident residual sugar, not unlike an amarone. Even if the wine were somewhat misplaced between continually dry wines, the tasting body liked it and assigned 95 - 97 points.

96 - 1982 Ch Cos d'Estournel, St Estephe

Medium brick red colour. Restrained smell, a bit harsh with some smoke. Both ripe and sour. The taste was better, bringing a good body even if a little hard and sandy feeling. Soft elegant on the top but rather weak for such renowned chateau like Cos. Maybe we had expected a little more, but decided this to be a 94 to 97 point wine.

96 - 1986 Ch Pichon-Longueville Comtesse de Lalande

Rather dark, between brick and ruby red. Not too open in the nose, finetuned and elegant, but not very interesting. A bit to much tannins wrapped in a mature softness, but the hard feeling do not fade away in the after taste. For me an expected disappointment, and I have sold my Bordeaux 1986 some years ago. The tasters judged low around 90, with some persons as high as 93 points. (I saved some small amount of wine a couple of days for retaste, and this wine had gain a lot, maybe I finally will regret I sold my 1986).

96 - 1982 Ch Gruaud Larose, St Julien

Rather dark brick red. A lovely smell immediately pops up from the glass. Lush, very unmistakable Medoc with creamy archetypical sweaty horses, smoke, cedar and antiquities. A splendid balance in the taste, flawless ageing, still potential and rich, along with elegance and vigour. A long soft after taste. All tasters were swept by the charm and assigned 98 to 100 points. The winner of this flight.

100 - 1990 Paul Jaboulet Aine Hermitage la Chapelle

Dark, ruby red with a hint of orange. Masculine smell with a lot of power. Stifled blackberries and pine needles. A monument but currently without any charm, the opposite of above. Also monumental in the taste, big proportions and a little squared but in overall balance. A superb length in after taste. All participants agreed on 98 points.

98 - 1990 Ch le Pin, Pomerol

Dark brick red colour. Really nourishing in the smell, lush and delicate Merlot with violets and fine mud. Also soft Merlot in the taste, with the same lush and rich fruit, but no lack of backbones. Velvet and totally balanced and integrated. We finally came up with 98 points. A long "Ooohhh" were recognised when the wine finally was disclosed. Thank you Arne for bringing a such expensive gem to our tasting !

Conclusions from this tasting

This tasting was the second most popular after the outrageous "stairway to heaven" tasting 2003. I think that the following facts was behind the success.

Regarding the correlation to Robert Parker, not much remain to complain about. (Weather this is a good sign of our excellence or just a painful brain wash is hard to tell). Deviating judgements of more than 2 points up or down from Parker was