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Default 76 Eltz, 95 Prado Enea, 96 Vega Sicilia, 70 Taylors




Notes from a dinner with friends.

1988 Perrier Jouet Belle Epoque Brut Rosé - the colour of this
bubbly is no longer pink, it is amber with a faint pink highlight. The
nose would delight any English Champagne geriatric fancier - a hint
of maderisation showing age and possibly less than perfect cellaring
(anyone had this lately in better shape?). Surprisingly dry in the
mouth with a bright flash of acidity right at the end.

with a large sautéed scallop and rare seared ahi.

1976 Schloss Eltz Eltviller Sonnenberg Riesling Beerenauslese (full
bottle) - I brought this and vetoed the plan to serve it with salmon.
It had, as expected, lost some sweetness over the years and was now
the colour of Madeira. The nose was fascinating with great depth ,
featuring raisiny petrol and fresh prunes. Probably showed the RS of a
recent vintage of Auslese but much more weight on palate, almost thick
in body. It had just exactly enough acidity at the end to balance it
and the most remarkable thing was the length of the finish, measured in
minutes. You could still taste this 5 minutes after you had last sipped
it. It had a relatively high alcohol at 12%, so you can imagine what
the must weight at harvest must have been. No wonder this (with 1971)
was the best vintage for late harvest wines of the decade. This has
been in my cellar for over 20 years - and still bears the price tag
of $6.99 from Safeway in Bellingham WA where they had mispriced it (my
question "Do you happen to have any more?" was unfortunately met
with a negative). The only food I could think of that might work would
be a simply seared bit of foie gras, but I'm not sure - any
suggestions? Probably best we had it alone and early so we could
appreciate it.

2002 Jean Marc Brocard Chablis 1 cru Montmains - clean, with a lemony
nose with perhaps a hint of salt air, crisp and clean in the mouth with
an impression of stones, and oddly a hint of perfume not in the nose
but on palate!

with steamed mussels

2002 Chartron et Trebuchet Meursault - perhaps a bit too much wood in
the nose for my liking and not well integrated, but otherwise pretty
good with a fullness in the mouth the Chablis had not shown, and smooth
across the tongue.

with skewers of seared halibut and cantaloupe (try it, you might like
it) followed by nicely cooked Copper River Spring salmon.

1995 Prado Enea Rioja Gran Reserva - wow - this 80% Tempranillo,
20% Garnacha, Mazuela, and Graciano wine had a lovely big not too woody
nose, with lots of fruit, dark colour, warmth and vanilla, and on
palate was well balanced and quite long with moderate tannins.
Excellent now and will hold over the long haul.

with roast pork tenderloin

1996 Vega Sicilia Valbuena 5 - this was the reserve wine, one step
below the Unico and a step above the '3'. Great timing as I'd
recently tasted the 1990 Unico. Sweet oak nose, tannins still firm,
good fruit, a bit more acidity than the 1990, and good length. All in
all a clone of the 1990 we'd tasted. Very good.

with rabbit

1970 Taylors - best darned Port I've had in some time! A dusty
warm (but not hot) nose, with figgy vanilla and maybe a hint of
cherries, elegant wine now coming into good drinking territory, oddly
sweet for a Taylor - more like a Grahams, mellow and smooth right to
the end of the long finish. Wish I had some in the cellar! Impeccable
balance.

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Default 76 Eltz, 95 Prado Enea, 96 Vega Sicilia, 70 Taylors


Bill S. wrote:

> 1976 Schloss Eltz Eltviller Sonnenberg Riesling Beerenauslese (full
> bottle) - I brought this and vetoed the plan to serve it with salmon.
> It had, as expected, lost some sweetness over the years and was now
> the colour of Madeira. The nose was fascinating with great depth ,
> featuring raisiny petrol and fresh prunes. Probably showed the RS of a
> recent vintage of Auslese but much more weight on palate, almost thick
> in body. It had just exactly enough acidity at the end to balance it
> and the most remarkable thing was the length of the finish, measured in
> minutes. You could still taste this 5 minutes after you had last sipped
> it. It had a relatively high alcohol at 12%, so you can imagine what
> the must weight at harvest must have been. No wonder this (with 1971)
> was the best vintage for late harvest wines of the decade. This has
> been in my cellar for over 20 years - and still bears the price tag
> of $6.99 from Safeway in Bellingham WA where they had mispriced it (my
> question "Do you happen to have any more?" was unfortunately met
> with a negative). The only food I could think of that might work would
> be a simply seared bit of foie gras, but I'm not sure - any
> suggestions? Probably best we had it alone and early so we could
> appreciate it.


I have not had this one, but I do have the Schloss Eltz Langenstuck
Beerenauslese 1971. It was still holding well a few years ago and full
golden in color, but I have not tasted it in several years. Having many
1971 and 1976 German wines of BA and TBA concentration, I believe that,
on the average, some 71s may be longer lived than the 76s. Of course at
this quality level, exceptions are nearly the rule! I find most of my
better auslesen and up 76s from the Rheingau still holding up well, and
most of them are still gold to old gold in color. The 71s often are
more classic and sometimes better balanced than the 76s. Of course all
of these wines have had near perfect storage since shortly after
release. Some of the 76 Rheingau and other auslese and above wines go
far beyond the usual peaches, apricots, etc and are tropical with much
pineapple, mango, and papaya along with loads of honey. If I had to
choose only one Rheingau vineyard, it would be Rauenthaler Baiken, but
climate must be ideal for this vineyard to reach the top, and of course
the wine maker must be good. I still have a single bottle of
Rauenthaler Baiken TBA 1949, state. It likely is still holding very
well.


> 1996 Vega Sicilia Valbuena 5 - this was the reserve wine, one step
> below the Unico and a step above the '3'. Great timing as I'd
> recently tasted the 1990 Unico. Sweet oak nose, tannins still firm,
> good fruit, a bit more acidity than the 1990, and good length. All in
> all a clone of the 1990 we'd tasted. Very good.


When I saw 1996 Vega Sicilia in the subject, I thought of Unico and
that someone needed to send a San Francisco whip mistress up to Canada
to teach someone not to open such a baby so soon. However, after
reading the discussion, I find it is the Valbueno, so perhaps this is
not such a great sin :-) .

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Default 76 Eltz, 95 Prado Enea, 96 Vega Sicilia, 70 Taylors

"cwdjrxyz" > wrote in news:1150145800.865684.298600
@f6g2000cwb.googlegroups.com:

>
>> 1996 Vega Sicilia Valbuena 5 - this was the reserve wine, one step
>> below the Unico and a step above the '3'. Great timing as I'd
>> recently tasted the 1990 Unico. Sweet oak nose, tannins still firm,
>> good fruit, a bit more acidity than the 1990, and good length. All in
>> all a clone of the 1990 we'd tasted. Very good.

>
> When I saw 1996 Vega Sicilia in the subject, I thought of Unico and
> that someone needed to send a San Francisco whip mistress up to Canada
> to teach someone not to open such a baby so soon. However, after
> reading the discussion, I find it is the Valbueno, so perhaps this is
> not such a great sin :-) .
>
>

I may be wrong, but I think the current release of VS Unico is 1995 (which arrived
a couple of months ago). I do not think 1996 is in the market yet.

BTW, there is quite a long time since no "Valbuena 3er año" is released (I do not
even think there was Valbuena 3 in 1996). Currently only Valbuena, Unico and the
non-vintage. Some people say that the old "3er año" is the current Alión, but VS
claims that Alion comes from a separate vineyard.

BTW, no Unico in 2001 and this vintage is the current offering of Valbuena. You can
think of Valbuena 2001 like a "drink young" Unico. I have tasted it and it is
amazing.

Santiago
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