What's in your glass today?

[Ken Gargett]

5 minutes ago, yadegari6 said:

You did not mislead at all! We finished the bottle, it was fantastic neither of us could put the glass down. The other two bottles I bought are sherries, la botta 83 and 91.

 

looking forward to hearing what you think. i have put the website info on those wines below. have a feeling that i have some 91 but not the 83. prices here are in silly territory. 

La Bota 91 de Fino “Macharnudo Alto”

 

Saca of February, 2019
D.O. Jerez – Xérès – Sherry
15% alc. – 75cl
5,000 bottles

http://www.equiponavazos.com/wp/wp-content/uploads/bota91-1.png

La Bota de Fino 91 “Macharnudo Alto” is a saca made in February-March 2019 from the same batch of casks that already gave us the eight previous and precious editions of La Bota de Fino. This new release, of an estimated average age of ten years, comes now from a selection of casks of the solera, the first and the second criaderas where we have been particularly looking for finesse and freshness, always taking into account it is a mature fino. The nose shows very complex and intense aromas, and a remarkable roundness in the palate (the traditional buttery touch of old finos) as a result of the autolysis of dead “flor” yeasts resting on the bottom of the vessel. This is particularly true of the solera, where the flor is almost exhausted, while in the second criadera the yeast is still very lively and active, which provides the spiciness and pungency that are also notable features of this extraordinary wine. Of course, the first criadera has an intermediate profile between the solera and the second.

This is a wine for connoisseurs, bottled almost unfiltered in order to preserve its golden color and racy character. It can be decidedly enjoyed upon release, but its evolution in bottle will continue to delight consumers for many years, provided it is stored with the same care as any other fine white wine.

It performs best at temperatures ranging from 9-10º C, where it shows a lighter and fresher profile, to 13º C, where it fully displays its rich and complex aromatic range. On the table it is a most versatile wine, successfully matching a wide array of diverse foods: of course Ibérico ham, but also seafood dishes, shepherd’s pie, “a feira” octopus, grilled vegetables, not too mature farm cheeses…

 

 

La Bota 83 de Manzanilla Pasada “Bota NO”

 

“Bota NO”, saca of May, 2018
D.O. Manzanilla Sanlúcar de Barrameda
16.5% alc. – 50cl
Hijos de Rainera Pérez Marín
Sanlúcar de Barrameda
Production: 900 bottles

http://www.equiponavazos.com/wp/wp-content/uploads/bota83-1.jpg

The wine from this prodigious set of casks was never bottled until Equipo Navazos selected it in 2008 for its 10th release of ‘La Bota de…’, followed two years later by edition number 20 “Bota Punta”. Then there have been a few very limited releases until in December 2017 we launched La Bota de Manzanilla Pasada 80 “Bota Punta”, and then in May 2018 this La Bota de Manzanilla Pasada 83 “Bota NO”, again from a single cask of very peculiar character, number 11 out of a solera of 15. This is a very special wine that shows a particular complexity due to an astonishing balance of finesse and chalky minerality, and roasted dry fruit nuances due to the start of the process of amontillamiento. This manzanilla pasada is actually in the border with a manzanilla amontillada, a traditional denomination that in our opinion is wrongly banned from labels.

What makes this wine truly unique and gifted with unmatched biological character (intense and steely salty notes on the palate) is that the butts are filled up to “a tocadedos” level—well above the 5/6 mark that is common in the Sherry district. In this fashion, the layer of yeast/flor inside these butts (much weakened by the age and lack of nutrients of the wine) is significantly smaller and thinner and can be kept alive on the sole basis of scarce periodic refreshments—acting as barely sufficient barrier between the wine and the intensely oxidizing effect of air. On the other hand, its very weakness implies that this protective effect is only a mild one, which is evidenced in the elegant oxidative notes of this manzanilla as well as the rising level of alcohol, climbing above 16%.

The real average age of this wine must be around 14 years. It is a complex and powerful wine, of balanced freshness and elegant oxidation notes that make it truly unique. Stunningly versatile on the dinner table, it matches a wide variety of dishes, from the most easygoing (rich fish dishes, fish-based rice recipes, charcuterie) to the most difficult (scrambled eggs with boletus edulis, runny sheep cheeses). Best served around 12º C, in moderately large stemware.

[Paladin865]

New arrivals

[SirVantes]

Very nice with slow braised oxtail

[SirVantes]

Taking @BrightonCorgi’s lead. A hit with Vacherin Mont d’or and blue cheese. 

[BrightonCorgi]

10 hours ago, SirVantes said:

Taking @BrightonCorgi’s lead. A hit with Vacherin Mont d’or and blue cheese.

'85 Fonseca is probably single best vintage of the decade.  Will age another 30-40 years no problem.  I recently won a case at auction.

[RedLantern]

The lineup for today. Had to get into a bottle last night during prep, obviously. 

[yadegari6]

Thank you @Ken Gargett for putting me onto these guys, superb stuff to get thanksgiving started 

[Ken Gargett]

12 hours ago, yadegari6 said:

Thank you @Ken Gargett for putting me onto these guys, superb stuff to get thanksgiving started

very glad you are enjoying them. great stuff.

and for the 85 fonseca above, agree with BC. best vintage of the 80s. 

[BrightonCorgi]

Thanksgiving Eve's wine after Chinese food. 

 

[BrightonCorgi]

Thanksgiving was severely scaled back due to our guests all getting Covid before the big day.  It was just Elys and I so we kept it reasonable for the day.  Here's the two we drank.  Saw black friday special on Heidsieck today, but all spent out on wine this week...

 

[JohnS]

16 minutes ago, BrightonCorgi said:

Thanksgiving was severely scaled back due to our guests all getting Covid before the big day.  It was just Elys and I so we kept it reasonable for the day.  Here's the two we drank.  Saw black friday special on Heidsieck today, but all spent out on wine this week...

You're inspiring me to open my Charles Heidsieck Brut Reserve by Christmas. I probably will!

[Ken Gargett]

Just now, JohnS said:

You're inspiring me to open my Charles Heidsieck Brut Reserve by Christmas. I probably will!

i have a magnum of it sitting downstairs. if i get stuck by myself down here for christmas, that might just be the go!

[BrightonCorgi]

On 11/26/2021 at 5:13 PM, JohnS said:

You're inspiring me to open my Charles Heidsieck Brut Reserve by Christmas. I probably will!

I read the price is jumping up on a lot on next years, so buy some more if you can.

A local wine shop has for $42 USD.  No sales tax either.

[BrightonCorgi]

Last night I needed a leftover turkey break (ended up having turkey either way) and wanted to try out a recently case of wine; 1997 Monsanto Il Poggio Riserva.  Monsanto is my go to favorite Chianti and they have stayed traditional and can age really well.  '97 may not be the best vintage, but Monsanto managed to produce a winner.  Some wine critics say, "to see how great a wine producer is, drink poor vintages and see how well they do."  They did well!

 

[BrightonCorgi]

Had a couple of good ones on Sunday.  Wife cooked a beef tenderloin that was sublime.  Inglenook is a special vineyard with wines 40+ years old drinking marvelously.  One of the most iconic names in Napa. 

 

[SirVantes]

[LLC]

[SirVantes]

7 hours ago, LLC said:

How was it? Just entering the drinking window?

[LLC]

7 hours ago, SirVantes said:

How was it? Just entering the drinking window?

Always enjoy this wine and it’s my sixth from this vintage. Tough to have full enjoyment as due to high winds we lost power for about six hours. So steaks on the grill were fine but we had to improvise on the sides and eat by candlelight. Some may call that romantic, but I call it stressful 😂

I think it’s been drinking well for a few years and really noticed the color change due to age more on this bottle than any previous. I’d probably guess it has a few good years in it but not sure how much past that. 

[BrightonCorgi]

Had a fun night of cigars and port.  A friend came to visit and we usually go heavy on port and few cigars.  This season is was 1960 Taylor.  Had another one in 2019 and forget we had it then.  The 2019 was a British bottled.  I think this one may be a Portuguese bottled version.  The 2019 was much darker and clearer.  This years was cloudy.  Both were excellent but this year's was a couple of points down.  2nd port was 1963 Niepoort.  Absolute stunner.  Doesn't get much better for the vintage.  Have had this port a few times and always a home run.  3rd was 1963 Fonseca....  Have had this port at least a dozen times and always consistent.  Real stunner.  Had a little more precision to it than the Niepoort and slightly longer finish.  Half point difference between the Niepoort and Fonseca.  After we killed those three bottles, we need something else for a pop and pour.  1995 Vesuvio to the rescue.  Wow, that was a great one too.  Seems like 1995 is younger today than 1985 was ten years ago.

 

As for cigars, I started off with an Esplendidos and then Sancho Panza Belelux regional.  My friend with an original release Behike (said it wasn't very good) and then a Siglo II.

Here's a during picture and nice one of the bottles the next day

 

[Ken Gargett]

10 hours ago, BrightonCorgi said:

Had a fun night of cigars and port.  A friend came to visit and we usually go heavy on port and few cigars.  This season is was 1960 Taylor.  Had another one in 2019 and forget we had it then.  The 2019 was a British bottled.  I think this one may be a Portuguese bottled version.  The 2019 was much darker and clearer.  This years was cloudy.  Both were excellent but this year's was a couple of points down.  2nd port was 1963 Niepoort.  Absolute stunner.  Doesn't get much better for the vintage.  Have had this port a few times and always a home run.  3rd was 1963 Fonseca....  Have had this port at least a dozen times and always consistent.  Real stunner.  Had a little more precision to it than the Niepoort and slightly longer finish.  Half point difference between the Niepoort and Fonseca.  After we killed those three bottles, we need something else for a pop and pour.  1995 Vesuvio to the rescue.  Wow, that was a great one too.  Seems like 1995 is younger today than 1985 was ten years ago.

 

As for cigars, I started off with an Esplendidos and then Sancho Panza Belelux regional.  My friend with an original release Behike (said it wasn't very good) and then a Siglo II.

Here's a during picture and nice one of the bottles the next day

 

i'm always interested in how much older Neipoort you have access to. it was very rarely seen out here for many years. a good importer now. i remember some colheita from 63 and then i got some 94s at auction (still have them - might be time to dig one out), but almost never saw it. what i have seen, i think Dirk has the wines at a level above anything previously. which is not to suggest that there were not good wines previously. 

[BrightonCorgi]

3 hours ago, Ken Gargett said:

i'm always interested in how much older Neipoort you have access to. it was very rarely seen out here for many years. a good importer now. i remember some colheita from 63 and then i got some 94s at auction (still have them - might be time to dig one out), but almost never saw it. what i have seen, i think Dirk has the wines at a level above anything previously. which is not to suggest that there were not good wines previously. 

Niepoort is rare in US.  I don't have access to much, honestly.  There is little distribution in the North East.  More on the west coast.  More Niepoort dry wines in around than fortified.  Their ports were more common in the 90's around here.  Dirk does little to promote in New England.  One of the largest Portuguese communities in the US is in MA.  Colheita and Garrafeira are the styles that really set Niepoort apart. 

Have you had the 1900 Colheita? Or the Coche white wine?  Could be Portugal's finest white!

I know they had a bottling issue for quite some time.  Bacteria they couldn't remove on the bottling line (or something like that).  90's ports can be iffy.  I think I have some 94's; they sell pretty cheap.   Had a Niepoort '94 at restaurant a few years ago in Raleigh, NC with a cigar.  Broadbent use to import a Douro Reserve made by Niepoort in '07 I have a case or so of.  Broadbent offered it one year, but competed with Crasto too much.  Now he no longer imports Crasto from what I heard. 

I am not big fan of Crasto ports, but adore their dry wines.

[Ken Gargett]

58 minutes ago, BrightonCorgi said:

Niepoort is rare in US.  I don't have access to much, honestly.  There is little distribution in the North East.  More on the west coast.  More Niepoort dry wines in around than fortified.  Their ports were more common in the 90's around here.  Dirk does little to promote in New England.  One of the largest Portuguese communities in the US is in MA.  Colheita and Garrafeira are the styles that really set Niepoort apart. 

Have you had the 1900 Colheita? Or the Coche white wine?  Could be Portugal's finest white!

I know they had a bottling issue for quite some time.  Bacteria they couldn't remove on the bottling line (or something like that).  90's ports can be iffy.  I think I have some 94's; they sell pretty cheap.   Had a Niepoort '94 at restaurant a few years ago in Raleigh, NC with a cigar.  Broadbent use to import a Douro Reserve made by Niepoort in '07 I have a case or so of.  Broadbent offered it one year, but competed with Crasto too much.  Now he no longer imports Crasto from what I heard. 

I am not big fan of Crasto ports, but adore their dry wines.

we still don't see much here but a local bloke is excellent with spanish and portuguese wines. brings in most of the top stuff. the port houses, the traditional ones, been here for many decades. 

i found myself in a tasting of their colheitas and others back to the very late 1800s in oporto once (might have stopped at 1900). amazing stuff. it was some portuguese wine exhibition. very strange. friend and i were asked if we'd like to join a tasting first morning. 60-80 local wines. turned out to be the comp for portugal's best wine. but they insisted on taking our notes and i never found out what the wines were and what won. some terrific stuff, though. no idea why we were asked or who they thought we were. 

at the colheita tasting, which a local friend had got me into, when we were leaving, she was talking to the organisers who came up and asked if we'd come back tomorrow. she whispered to us - 'tomorrow, we are doing the old wines'. when you've just gone back to 1900 or so, the mind boggles. but she was right. next day was a tasting of ferreira VPs, half a dozen different vintages back to the 1847. all from the House's cellars. some in magnums. i don't have the notes with me but i think also 1893, 1947, 1917? and a couple of others. but they had opened heaps of bottles - crazy. so the two of us travelling and my local friend were asked to help drink them now that they were open. we spent 3-4 hours trying to drink the old VPs (we'd wave our hand and say, 'another 1847, i think' - completely surreal experience) before we had to get to an organised dinner. we were horribly late and messy. a very old bloke (who was still around when i was there a couple of years ago, came up and asked if we enjoyed the 1847 - turns out his grandmother made it. when i said very much, he was pleased. seems he has a few more bottles in his cellar). 

i have always quite liked the crasto wines, ports and dry wines. that same friend who got us into these tastings convinced me to stick around one year - not the same year - and said she'd sort accommodation. next thing, i get dropped off at the Crasto House for 4-5 days. talk about how the other half live. they were fantastically hospitible and generous. really lovely people. but the money!!!!! i believe the owner's brother owns, or is the main shareholder in sporting lisbon. i think the same might apply to the family where i stayed and the oporto team. i think both brothers own banks. i remember spending one afternoon with a great bottle of port up at their infinity pool. when i say up, i mean it. it is built at the top of one of the very high hills overlooking the duoro. truly magnificent. the greatest views you could imagine. i floated around and enjoyed the port and smoked a superb SLR DC. those were the days! 

[BrightonCorgi]

Have you been to Quinta do Portal?  They too are a wealthy family that sounds like the way you describe Crasto.  Portal is also a beautiful property and one I'd love to spend a few days at the next time in the Douro.  Crasto has that epic view though as you mentioned; really special.  Quinta de la Rosa has quite a majestic view too, but the accommodations are not as fancy.  Their reserve wines are amazing.

[Ken Gargett]

13 hours ago, BrightonCorgi said:

Have you been to Quinta do Portal?  They too are a wealthy family that sounds like the way you describe Crasto.  Portal is also a beautiful property and one I'd love to spend a few days at the next time in the Douro.  Crasto has that epic view though as you mentioned; really special.  Quinta de la Rosa has quite a majestic view too, but the accommodations are not as fancy.  Their reserve wines are amazing.

i have not.

small world. this morning i got a query about a lunch which is on friday with one of the guys wondering about bringing a magnum of 2011 quinta do vale meao meandro. which was made by the very chap i was talking about whose grandmother made the ferreira.