Popped and poured; enjoyed over the course of a couple of hours. The 2020 “Pétalos” pours a deep purple color with a magenta rim and an opaque core; medium+ viscosity with moderate staining of the tears. On the nose, the wine is developing with ripe and tart black fruits: blackberries, black cherry, salmiakki, horse blanket, and mixed earth. On the palate, the wine is dry with medium+ tannin and medium+ acid. Confirming the notes from the nose. The finish is medium. A crazy, ambitious wine that’s the result of assembling over 300 plots. Between Raúl Perez and Palacios, Mencia doesn’t get much better. Drink now through 2030. — 23 days ago
Intense and pretty with a bit of VA on the nose at first that blows off. Very pure fruit but still young and quite gnarly. Serious stuff, dark and intense. Will this ever dance lightly? I don’t know… impressive but less drinkable now that the 2000 alongside. — 14 days ago
Vintage 2019 | Popped and poured to savour during the Liberation concert at Dutch Liberation day. Good old school Rioja. Tempranillo and 4% Graciano. 24 m barrel aging and 12 m aging in bottle before it comes on the market. Elegance and structure. Vanilla and spicyness in smell. Also mocca. Fine acidity and spices in taste. But also fruit, fresh cherries. Paired with some old goats cheese. — 4 days ago
If you know, you know.
Just eying the bottle evokes a sense of mysticism—these are increasingly rare sightings, relics of a winemaking philosophy nearly lost to time. Opening it after a recent visit to the winery feels familiar, almost fated.
The color holds strong despite its 20+ years, with a core of garnet that defies its age. On the nose, memory takes over: the scent of the underground cellar, the mold-covered walls, the rustic perfume of wood and brick. Then come the classics notes—dried rose petals, red berries, and a whisper of spice.
The palate surprises with more volume than the bottle’s vintage muster’s. Lively red fruit mingles with savory earth and warm spice, carried by silken tannins. The finish lingers with a trace of wet oak, grounding the experience in place and time.
This is a wine of lineage, character, and quiet perseverance—a style too uncommon today. Most importantly, it was opened, shared, and deeply enjoyed. — 20 days ago
With a four hour decant this 2001 Rousseau Chambertin was ethereally light with a good finish but not as complex or the signature sappy fruit associated with Rousseau. A good wine not great. Next time will use a two hour decant — 21 days ago
Vijay Parikh
Splash decanted this 1993 La Tache and consumed over the next four hours. Aromatically brilliant and loads of promise but still young — 7 days ago