Most Disappointing Wine You Cellared

[Larry_G0ld3n]

2001 Altesino Montosoli, went heavy based on the hype from Wine Spectator. In the beginning so dry and tannic I though they had to get better. And a few did over time. As for the remaining dozen or do, at least 2/3 corked, simply awful and undrinkable. Just 1 left.

[Howard_Cooper]

@Jeremy C

Most Gaunoux burgs

Which Gaunoux?

For me, Michel

[Howard_Cooper]

@Barry Paul Price

I think too many people mistake BIG fruit, BIG alcohol or BIG tannin as a guarantee a wine can by aged for a long time.

Does anyone with any experience still believe this. This seems like a belief unique to beginners.

[Howard_Cooper]

@GregT

It’s still kind of a mystery as to what will age and what won’t,

For me, track record is the best indication.

[A1ex_H]

@Howard Cooper

@GregT

It’s still kind of a mystery as to what will age and what won’t,

For me, track record is the best indication.

I agree with both sentiments. I think track record can be the best indication but it’s difficult for wineries where they’ve made some changes to their winemaking in the past say 10 years.

[Peter_Panzica]

@Andrew L.

@D@vid Bu3ker

1998 Vieux Donjon (every bottle, from multiple sources, has been dead since the mid-2000s)

Every bottle I’ve ever had of this has also been dead.

Wish I saw these posts a few months ago. Over the summer I had a bottle in France at Maison Pic in N Rhone. It was off the charts, rich complex, alive and outright stunning. I bought a case over the winter and paid a premium for it from HDH. Although not dead, and only 2 bottles consumed so far they were nothing like the bottle I had in France.

[Kirk.Grant]

Most disappointing: 1998 Château-Grillet - Hands down couldn’t hold a candle to the hype. It was very good at best. Opened in 2011…maybe too soon? I’m open to hearing from others that know more than I do about this producer.

Best surprise: N.V. Luis Caballero Jerez-Xérès-Sherry Fino Pavon (1925 Solera) - I got this for $7 from www.winebid.com. This wine had signs of seepage, with 8cm ullage, and looked like it was a wine that might have been forgotten about by the original individual who made a great purchase. In a night that was full of amazing bottles (07 Pur Sang, 76 JJ Prum GKA, 05 Dagueneau Jurançon Les Jardins de Babylon, 1985 Graham Porto, ad many more) this took the cake and stood head and shoulders with some of the best wines of the year.

[Nathan_Smyth]

1998 Parker Coonawarra Terra Rossa First Growth.

Tasted in 2008, it was a light bodied, bright red & very high acid vinegar with tannins.

In restrospect, ST’s note is a more accurate, in terms of “red” and “firm acids” & “firm tannins”, but RMP’s note is so badly off that I wonder whether he was served a fake sample, or maybe his notes got mixed up and he was mistakenly writing about an entirely different wine?


RMP: “Readers should keep an eye out for the 1998 Terra Rossa First Growth after its release later this year. Its dense purple color is followed by extraordinarily sweet fruit, intense glycerin, and a full-bodied, concentrated mouth-feel. The purity, high extract, and uncanny symmetry is breathtaking. Perhaps the finest Terra Rossa First Growth yet produced, it should drink well for two decades or more. 95-97”

ST: “Bright, full ruby. Brooding aromas of cassis, licorice, menthol and cocoa powder, plus a slight greenness. Then youthfully backward on the palate, with red fruit and spice flavors enlivened by firm acids. Shows good extract and a core of subtle sweetness. Finishes with firm tannins and very good but not outstanding length. Still rather dominated by its backbone today, and built to last. 89+”

[David_Bu3ker]

@Peter Panzica

@Andrew L.

@D@vid Bu3ker

1998 Vieux Donjon (every bottle, from multiple sources, has been dead since the mid-2000s)

Every bottle I’ve ever had of this has also been dead.

Wish I saw these posts a few months ago. Over the summer I had a bottle in France at Maison Pic in N Rhone. It was off the charts, rich complex, alive and outright stunning. I bought a case over the winter and paid a premium for it from HDH. Although not dead, and only 2 bottles consumed so far they were nothing like the bottle I had in France.

I wonder if the importer(s) mishandled the wine. I sourced this from multiple parts of the country, and have had issue across the board.

[John_Morris]

@Andrew L.

@D@vid Bu3ker

1998 Vieux Donjon (every bottle, from multiple sources, has been dead since the mid-2000s)

Every bottle I’ve ever had of this has also been dead.

I guess it’s a good thing I ceded my one-half interest in a bottle to my brother.

[AAgrawal]

@Warren Taranow

'98 Beaucastels went from something really nice to soupy barbecue sauce a few years ago. It seemed to me the change was sudden, as though someone had thrown a switch.

I have a lot of these 98 Beaucastels in halves, and they may be coming back. I agree that they were messes a few years ago, but the last 3-4 halves I’ve opened in the last year have been good.

[Tom_Lee]

@Leonard Taylor

I bought heavy on Turley Petit Syrah 15-20 years ago because I liked them. But based on the advice given at the time I put them down to let the tannins soften and secondary flavors evolve. I started getting into them a couple years ago and have been totally unimpressed with them at this point. Only the Hayne bottlings seem to have held up. Most of the others have turned raisiny, pruny, chalky and one dimensional. I recall RP saying that some of them would need 50 years to come around. Today they hardly resemble PS.

The 2002 Turley Petite Sirah Library Vineyard, opened last night, was absolutely stunning in every way.

Tom

[Rich_Brown]

@Tom Lee

@Leonard Taylor

I bought heavy on Turley Petit Syrah 15-20 years ago because I liked them. But based on the advice given at the time I put them down to let the tannins soften and secondary flavors evolve. I started getting into them a couple years ago and have been totally unimpressed with them at this point. Only the Hayne bottlings seem to have held up. Most of the others have turned raisiny, pruny, chalky and one dimensional. I recall RP saying that some of them would need 50 years to come around. Today they hardly resemble PS.

The 2002 Turley Petite Sirah Library Vineyard, opened last night, was absolutely stunning in every way.

Tom

I’ve also had good luck with aged Turley PS (especially the Hayne). Hope the rest of yours show a little better

[AAgrawal]

It’s good to hear that some have had good experiences with Turley Petite Sirah. I have a few bottles from 2002-2005 that I’m just going to start trying now…

[Mel_Hill]

This sucked hard last night. Tannins 1 fruit 0

[Tom_Lee]

@AAgrawal

It’s good to hear that some have had good experiences with Turley Petite Sirah. I have a few bottles from 2002-2005 that I’m just going to start trying now…

This thread inspired me to open the 02 Turley Library Vyd. Note below:

Light red in color and a surprisingly low 13.8% ABV. Amazing nose of currants, leather and menthol. Medium body with gobs of acidity. The wine is somewhat lean compared to the Turley Zins of this era but still has great aged fruit flavors that are like a laser beam on the palate. Dried cherries, iron, mint and cassis in spades. Medium length on the finish. In retrospect, had I tasted this blind, I’d have likely guessed a twenty year old Barolo. Fascinating wine that I wish I had more of. Drink over the next decade. 95 points

Tom

[larry_schaffer]

I have found that many aged CA Petites lean towards older Clarets than they do younger Petites. The good ones seem to develop some very interesting nuances; the ones that ‘don’t come around’ sound similar to the one that Mel mentioned above.

Just because a wine has tons of tannins as a young wine does not necessarily mean that these will ‘resolve’ over time. So many other factors come into play here that there truly is no way to know . . . and that is part of the fun that is wine to me.

Cheers.

[Tom_Lee]

@larry schaffer

I have found that many aged CA Petites lean towards older Clarets than they do younger Petites. The good ones seem to develop some very interesting nuances; the ones that ‘don’t come around’ sound similar to the one that Mel mentioned above.

Just because a wine has tons of tannins as a young wine does not necessarily mean that these will ‘resolve’ over time. So many other factors come into play here that there truly is no way to know . . . and that is part of the fun that is wine to me.

Cheers.

Agreed I was torn between referencing an aged Barolo or aged Napa Cab in the note above.

Tom

[larry_schaffer]

I had a ridge 1981 York Creek Petite Sirah not too long ago and it was a beautiful wine, but definitely did not remind me much of a Petite Sirah. Is that a good or bad thing?

[Barry_Paul_Price]

2002 Yellowtail Shiraz. I heard wine improved with age. Kept it under my couch all summer.

No improvement.