Chris England

9.6

This is still my favourite Rioja & vintage at present, worth £80 😍 My 10th try & still a beauty I can’t resist 👍 I exemplifies the pure essence a high quality Rioja 👏

📍 La Rioja Alta Gran Reserva 890 2001

▶️ @lariojaaltasa 🤗

🏵 96 points

🍇 95% Tempranillo, 3% Graciano & 2% Mazuelo

🍷 Garnet ruby w/ brick edge

👃 Smoked oak through mashed earthy cherries covered in vanilla coconut cream, balsamic jam & double caramel choc mocha w/ red liquorice, truffle, prune, date & light spiced herbs #nosetasia

👄 Med body of rich smooth silky creamy dark & red cherry bathed in balsamic goo w/ melted mocha & earthy liquorice

🎯 Long balsamic cherry mocha berry blast w/ a balsamic linger, touch of woody oak & red berry — 7 years ago

Chris England

9.2

1️⃣9️⃣8️⃣3️⃣

🗞 Anorexia, 1st mouse, MS Word
🎵 Every Breath You Take, Billie Jean, Let’s Dance, Down Under
🎥 Flashdance, Return of the Jedi, Trading Places
🗣 Go ahead, make my day
🌍 4.64B (🇨🇳 1B)

Yum @ £160 but a year past it’s prime

🍷 Garnet bricked cherry

👃 Soggy smokey leaves, mushroom & earth in faded blackberry & fermented cherry w/ leather, prune & liquorice

👄 Med body of tart cherry & smooth blackberry w/ an earthy dry twang in med acidity & creamy mocha tone

🎯 Med dry red berry/cherry & blackberry — 8 years ago

Chris England

9.4

Top year 904 @ £75 that was drank in Zalto burg glass as its like an aged burgundy

🐽 Paired w/ Iberian Ham 😍

🍷 Garnet ruby w/ brick

👃 Smoked burnt oak, soggy earthy leaves, leather, dark cherry & figs w/ balsamic & damson

👄 Med body of creamy stewed cherry w/ earthy balsamic & slight mocha

🎯 Med finish of above w/ earthy balsamic linger

Reaching peak but I preferred the 95 904 over this but the 890 94 was better than the 95! — 8 years ago

Chris England

9.2

Quick review as drinking w/ friends 😉 Not the best VCC I've had but still a decent aged drop 😎 @ £113

🍷 Garnet red w/ brown

👃 Rose petal perfumed mushrooms in a damp cellar filled w/ earthy soggy leaves through stewed plum, dark cocoa & smoked soft oak

👄 Med creamy smooth body of sweet blackcurrant & earthy plum in mocha

🎯 Med+ plummy mocha — 9 years ago

Mike Mayer

9.1

Beautiful garnet color in the glass. Light floral and licorice on the nose. Silky smooth flavors of dark fruit, licorice, and spice followed by some mineral like overtones on the finish. Very complex. Really good wine. — 10 years ago

with Lisa

Osvaldo Gomez

9.3

Red garnet with dry dark sherry,fig,licorice, hazelnut, prune, tobacco, toasted coffee beans, well integrated and silky tannins, long after taste — 11 years ago

Alexis Davis Iaconis

Hospitality Director Copain Wines

8.9

Aromatic, high acid and medium plus tannins. Roasted bacon and eucalyptus. Garnet brown in color — 11 years ago

GabWine

9.4

Color : Red
Wine estate : Tenuta San Guido
Designation : Bolgheri
Name : Sassicaia
Country : Italy
Vivino : 5/5
Note : Opening of this Magnum 2002 that had not moved from its individual wooden case in special. Always so many emotions to take out such a wine and please the family. Perfect time to open it and we are on a silky red robe blood with shards garnet. The typical nose of Sassicaia with flavors of black fruits, pepper, copper and cigar. Once in the mouth, the aromas explode and the final is long, greedy, structured and elegant. Excellent.
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Ouverture de ce Magnum 2002 qui n’avait pas bougé de sa caisse individuelle en bois. Toujours autant d’émotions à sortir un tel vin et faire plaisir la famille. Moment parfait pour l’ouvrir et nous sommes sur une robe soyeuse rouge sang avec des éclats grenats. Le nez typique du Sassicaia avec des saveurs de fruits noirs, poivre, cuivre et cigar. Une fois en bouche, les arômes explosent et le final est long, gourmand, structuré et élégant. Excellent.
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👍🏻Vivino, FB : GabWine | IG : gabriel_dvl 🥂 — 8 years ago

Rick Jordan

9.0

VINTAGE: 2004
BOTTLE: 375ml
APPEARANCE: Deep red, garnet meniscus, viscous legs.
NOSE: Allspice, white pepper, bell pepper, dark fruits.
MOUTHFEEL: Round, medium - acidity, medium + tannins.
PALATE: Cinnamon, tomato leaf, leather, hints of vanilla.
FINISH: Long with sandalwood throughout and some cocoa at the very end.
NOTES: Picked this up in December of 2017, thinking the 375 bottle will have made this ready to drink immediately. Was not wrong, it is drinking well, but there is sufficient backbone left in this wine to age for many more years to come, even in a 375. Nice layers of complexity that were fun to tease out, but still many notes that I don’t yet have the ability to properly identify. I look forward to trying again with more years under its belt. — 8 years ago

Byron C Mayes

8.9

Ruby garnet. Red fruit and leather on the nose and palate with cola and cassis. Plush velvety tannins. Very nice right now. — 9 years ago

Chris England

9.4

This 22yr old Montrose @ £115 is drinking lovely right now - Forget nasal sex, this is a nostralic-orgy 😍

🍇 63% Cab S, 31% Mer, 5% Cab F & 1% Pet V

🍷 Dark garnet Ruby

👃 Delicate minerals, gravel, earth & wet leaves through stewed spiced blackcurrant, prune, date & plum w/ farmyard, liquorice, herbs, smoke, leather, mocha & black tea - yummy 😉

👄 Med body of incredibly smooth silky blackcurrant, plum & red berry in dark mocha & black tea

🎯 Med earthy dark aged mashed fruit soaking
— 9 years ago

Lewis Chester

9.6

2006 vintage. At Au Fil du Zinc, Chablis. Pale garnet hue. Savoury, Earth and manure nose, red currant and wild strawberry, red cherry. On the palate, medium acidity, medium body, medium plus alcohol. Full concentration. Long long finish. Licorice, mint, savoury spices, the whole shebang. More evolved than the '05. Superb. — 10 years ago

Natalie Wurst Harris

8.9

Smooth way drinking. Not too heavy! — 11 years ago

with Dave and P

Greg Ballington

Co-Founder of Millennial Drinkers Wine Blog

8.9

Medium garnet red with brick edges. A bit dirty on the nose with dried cherries. Medium tannins (6/10) and medium plus bodied. Cherries and dried leaves on the palate. Very dry with a long finish. Drink till 2024. — 8 years ago

with Sean and India

Chris England

9.3

1️⃣9️⃣9️⃣1️⃣

🗞 USSR no more, Desert Storm, Browser Invented
🎵 Everything I Do I Do It For You, Black Or White
🎥 The Addams Family, The Silence of the 🐑
🗣 Hasta La Vista Baby
🌍 5.3B

A touch flat for a Palmer but still a joy to drink @ £110 👍

🍷 Garnet ruby

👃 Flinty gravel, broken pencils & herbs through faded black fruits w/ light hints of oak & a romp in the forest 😁

👄 Med body of smooth mocha infused dark berries & plums w/ a liquorish tone

🎯 Med+ minerally mocha soft dark fruits w/ liquorice kick — 8 years ago

Sabine Freire

9.3

Had the 1988 vintage fantastic mix of ripe plum with touches of prunes, a little green bell pepper on the nose and slight spicy note of black pepper. Well balanced tannins, garnet shade — 8 years ago

Narun P

9.0

58% CS, 33% M, 6% PV, 3% CF
Slightly bricked garnet red, compact rim, more red than purple.

Pretty bouquet - red cherry, dried herbal aromas, leather, tobacco, mineral.

The palate is harmonious. Integrated tannin, med plus acidity, dry, medium bodied. Showing a lot of red fruit character, animalistic, floral. Very classic Margaux-esque character.

This wine is at the perfect drinking spot. No need at all to wait. After a solid month of full bodied, extracted Napa Cab, this is a welcome reprieve! 90. — 9 years ago

Al Shikoh

9.0

The color has faded to a translucent garnet with tawny colored rim. It has developed a complex bouquet of red cherry, dried fig, old leather, and tobacco as well as some barnyardy notes from Brett. This is one of my favorite producers in Rioja but I would prefer to consume this younger as although there is some nice fruit and acid, the tannins have really faded leaving little grip or bite. Classic blend of 75% Tempranillo, 15% Garnacha, 5% Graciano, and 5% Mazuelo. — 9 years ago

with Drew and Kelly

Kevin McGarry

9.0

Fuller bodied. Great match for poultry. From high altitude Sonoma vineyards. Petaluma gap. Lots of cherries and spice. — 11 years ago

Lesa Gough

9.1

Garnet with rim variation turning brick/terracota, corn on the cob, dill, molasses. — 11 years ago