Tuesday night my work wine tasting group did our monthly dinner. We have been doing this for nine years. One person brings the wine and another pays for the food. Mostly non hardcore wine geeks that do not read or post on bulletin boards.
2001 Artazu Artazuri Garnacha Narvarra RP92-This wine has seen much better days. Very non descript with very few redeeming features. Parkers drinking window of 2004-2010 was probably off by about four years. Average at best.
2001 Cellar de Capcanes Cabrida RP94-This wine opened with quite a bit of funk, but after about 20 minutes showed very well, much like a nice medium age CDP. Pretty good complexity.
2001 Bienvenida Sito del Palo RP92-Another non descript wine with fading fruit and little complexity. Probably better off a few years ago.
2001 Bodegas J C Conde Neo RP95-This was probably the most diasppointing wine of the night. Decent nose and fruit on entry, but very hollow in the mid-palate and short on the finish. Maybe closed, but just did not have the stuffing to make me believe it would evolve into anything.
2001 Rotlian Torra Tirant RP 96-98-This was by far the best wine of the night. Excellent nose, solid entry and texture in the mouth. Only the second wine of the night that had solid fruit and nice complexity. The one wine of the night that could probably be held onto for a few more years. Still not worth the dollars it cost on release.
Agree with you on the Artazu Artazuri Garnacha, never did anything for me – but these 2001s were pretty good:
2001 Cellers Ripoll Sans Priorat Closa Batllet- Spain, Catalunya, Priorat (4/18/2007) Minneapolis Tastes Spain (Unico, Mauro, Janus, Closa Batllet, Clio, Numanthia): Dark red – almost black – in color. The nose is very expressive and classy with intense notes of red fruit, smoke, mineral, oak, and violet. On the palate this tastes extremely youthful with jazzy red fruit, well integrated oak, and a subtle earthiness. Perfectly balanced. Extremely tannic. Good length on the finish. This is still extremely young but showed well. Should have an excellent future. (94 pts.)
2001 Bodegas Mauro Vino de la Tierra de Castilla y León Vendimia Seleccionada- Spain, Castilla y León, Vino de la Tierra de Castilla y León (12/13/2006) Spanish Inquisition at Brad England’s House: Extremely dark red color. Opaque. The nose is subdued, but with coaxing reveals raspberry, tobacco, and smoke. The first taste gives two distinct impressions: 1) this is too young to be drinking, and 2) this is an extremely refined and elegant wine. Nice weight in the mouth. Concentrated flavors of red cherry fruit and earth – with licorice peaking through at the finish. Gritty tannin. Long finish. I plan to delay drinking my remaining bottles for at least five years. (94 pts.)
2001 Bodegas Emilio Moro Ribera del Duero Malleolus de Valderramiro- Spain, Castilla y León, Ribera del Duero (5/18/2006) Winestreet Tastes Spain and California: Dark red color. An amazing nose. Black cherry mixed with earthy elements and smoke. The nose filled the glass, and I could have smelled it all night. Some thought the palate did not deliver on what the nose promised, but I thought it tasted great. Medium bodied with great fruit presence throughout. The tannins were present but not distracting. The finish was long. Wine of the night by a long shot. I went and bought six bottles the next morning, and am looking forward to trying this again in a setting where I can really savor it. (96 pts.)