A shame. I’ve had a good number of Massandra wines ranging from 2009 to 1931 and not a single wine has failed me. The younger wines have been a bit simple but thoroughly enjoyable, whereas the older wines have been some of the most stunning fortified wines made in Europe. Absolutely amazing wines when they are in prime condition.
It’s a shame they have been pretty unobtainable since 2014 and I don’t know how much there is anything left once Crimea gets liberated again.
And it’s impossible to say which grapes were used for that particular wine, but I’ve understood they grow some international varieties in addition to a good number of local varieties like Kethessia, Ekim-kara, Capitan-kara, Lapa-kara and Metin-kara.
This was the 2017 disgorgement so 32 years on the lees. There was no green apple or cider funk. I remember green almond, marzipan, leather, lots of mineral, significant acidity but not at the forefront.
Looking at my records we had it during one of our covid blind nights and it was consensus wotn against:
2017 Les Héritiers du Comte Lafon Saint Véran
2014 Bodega Catena Zapata Chardonnay White Bones Adrianna Vineyard Mendoza
2017 Ewald Tscheppe (Weingut Werlitsch) Glück
2010 R. López de Heredia Rioja Rosado Gran Reserva Viña Tondonia
2011 Arianna Occhipinti Nero d’Avola Terre Siciliane Siccagno
2001 Domenico Clerico Barolo Pajana
2004 Valdicava Brunello di Montalcino
2007 Jonata Winery La Sangre de Jonata
Yeah, I’ve understood the 2017 disgorgement is the only one for this wine.
I can get green almond and leather, because my own TN basically describes the very same things. And definitely very mineral and acid-driven overall style for sure.
However, green almonds signify elevated levels of acetaldehyde and leather is a telltale marker for brett. Both are definitely interesting elements (say, acetaldehyde in a Vin Jaune and brett in a lambic), but even if I love some wild and funky wines, those characteristics aren’t going to make a sparkling wine a winner in my books!
I can imagine this kind of wine will definitely stand out as something pretty interesting in a lineup such as yours, but still, “interesting” does not always equate with “good” - and I’m not saying this wine wasn’t good, because it turned out to be better with air than how it was at first! It just honestly isn’t a wine I’d buy for myself, even if I was offered a bottle at a low price - and checking out notes in CT, I’m not the only one! There are a handful of people like you, who have found the wine of exceptional quality, but it seems a majority of people think the wine was just rather green, somewhat odd and - for most - not entirely enjoyable.
To me aged wine is the most interesting and exciting aspect of wine. I’d take a mature wine over a young one any day of the week. To my palate most wine gets better with at least some age, and sometimes significantly even when unexpected.
Assyrtiko is a good call. I’ve had exceptional aged examples.
In 2016 in Lyon I bought a 2004 Weinbach Pinot Blanc for a low price. Under 20 euro for sure. Shocked at how well it held up. Delicious and complex.
The Caves Sao Joao are a nice affordable entry point to aged wine. IMO ranging from good to great.
I find often people are surprised by good aged examples of Loire whites and reds. Old Vouvray, Sancerre, Savienerres, Chinon, Samur-Champigny, and Bourgeuil frequently deliver the goods.
I basically buy every single aged wine I can, as frequently as I can afford it. Happy to have a cellar full of odds and ends ranging from Grand Cru Burgundy to Xinomavro, Madiran, and Alsatian Riesling.
This is one of those bottles that you think for sure will be dead and gone. Surprise. Still very much alive. Open opening, the nose is a mix of crunchy red berries and tertiary aromas. The mouth is still vibrant with medium acidity, fine discrete tanins, light body and seems a little fragile. Enjoyable and easy to drink. The wine started to become pruney (oxidized) when a quarter of the bottle was left (about 1 hour in). Pleasant surprise overall.
Back in the mid-2000’s my local wine shop was blowing out its 2001 Flowers Sonoma Coast Pinot for $15/bottle. I bought one and liked it & went back for a few more. They still had cases of it stacked on the floor, pre-Sideways so CA Pinot wasn’t yet a fast mover in the Midwest.
The owner begged me to buy more, offering another 20% off if I bought a case, so I did.
While I enjoyed them in their youth I was pleasantly surprised how much I still enjoyed them as they aged and appreciated the ethereal elegance that emerged.
Had my last one in 2020 and it still had a remnant of that tingly acid and raspberry, spice and pepper and still maintained the wonderful aromatics.
While it might not be a surprise to many here that a CA Pinot can age gracefully into their 20’s and it’s no longer a surprise to me, I didn’t expect anything past 10 years when I bought them.
Thanks for the great replies everyone. I love reading them. Please keep them coming! And they remind me a few other examples that slipped my mind when I first posted;
1992 Chateau Beaux Hauts Chardonnay En Tirage; a 30 yr old sparkler from Sonoma for $35. It was excellent!
1998 Chehalem Pinot Noir Stoller Vineyard- over 20yrs old and so fresh and vibrant
Aged NV Champagne can certainly be a treat: always good to be reminded of that.
I’ve also had the 1984 Lauer Brut Reserve. I sit somewhere between Rob and Otto on this one. It’s a super interesting wine, for sure. Glad to have tried it. I didn’t think it was a really great drinking experience, and I get where Otto is coming from, but I think I liked it better than he did reading the comments on this thread.
Here is my own tasting note of the wine from 2020:
You can find my TN as well from the same place and see that it wasn’t a damning one; 91 points is definitely a good wine in my books. As I said, “insanely good” was just something I’d not use myself for the wine.
1981 La Crema Vinera Vin Gris of Pinot Noir. Inherited. Wondered why he had so many, so we popped one. I’ve shared them with several winemakers. Barrel aged, high acid, tons of SO2 did the trick.
1947 ETts M. Hautefaye & Cie Bordeaux blanc. A winemaker friend found this going through his collection and brought it to a dinner. Had no recollection where it came from. Solid and enjoyable.
1966 Chateau Touzet Coteaux d’Aix-en-Provence. I was at a friend’s and he heard my birthday was coming up and pulled this as a gift. Just an oddity that came with a lot he purchased. Weird bulbous bottle that has a second bulb in the neck. Found that it was a Grenache blend and ended up opening it at an August West bottling. It had a bold youthful ripeness upfront and a fully mature aspect down in the mix.
197x NoCommentVineyards Pinot Noir 2nd tier multi-region California blend. What-the-heck nerdy purchase because of the producer. Expected it to most likely be dead. Served blind. One friend was mad that I opened it on such a casual occasion when I could easily resell it for well over $300, certain in was a '60s era Chambolle Musigny. (In retrospect, he knew about some purchase I’d made, but that seemed out of left field since I don’t flip wines.) But, that’s about the 20th producer of a great CA Pinot I’ve had from an era “they didn’t yet know how to make Pinot”. Sure, there was garbage, more so with larger volume producers. But in the late '70s, who was motivated at the artisanal level seemed to have an idea what they were doing. Contrast that to the mid-2000s when the vast majority of hyped up critic darlings were soupy crap.
Well, adding in some chenin from the past couple years:
1989 Foreau Moelleux Reserve. No surprise it’s still great. Except the bottle I tried had been opened, partially consumed two months prior, then covered in saran wrap and stored outside on a balcony. And it was still ridiculously good when I had it two months later (and still pretty clearly Foreau).
1996 Huet 1er Trie (I forget which vineyard unfortunately). Same deal w/ the two months of saran wrap balcony storage. Also ridiculous, perhaps just a step behind the Foreau
1980 Huet LHL (the “Vin De Glace” vintage)
1996 Coulee de Serrant. Not surprised at all about Day 1, really surprised about Day 6.
1982 Olga Raffault Champ-Chenin. Tasted straight up young. Not “young for 40 years,” but young, period. Blind I might have thought it was 5-7 years old.
