Jay Kline

9.1

Popped and poured; enjoyed over the course of an hour. The 2014 Reserva pours a deep ruby color with a transparent core; medium viscosity with moderate staining of the tears. On the nose, the wine is developing with notes of tart and ripe red fruits, Morello cherry, dill, green olives, horse blanket, old wood and dry organic earth. On the palate, the wine is dry with medium+ tannin and medium+ acid. Confirming the notes from the nose. The finish is long and zippy. A super honest and traditional Rioja; a wine of character. It’s good on its own and even better with a variety of food. Drink now through 2034. — 3 days ago

Scott@Mister A’s-San Diego

8.9

1986 vintage. Ripped through six bottles (one corked) for a 1986 BDX dinner @ Mister A's-San Diego. All bottles appropriately aged fill and decent+ corks. Double decanted and tasted over the course of 5 hours. Mix of powdery and stubborn (non-chunky) sed amongst the 6 bottles. Light-medium body throughout. Somewhat muted experience overall. None of the bottles (with variation) shone/sung. Wine is firmly on the downside of the bell curve with best days behind it (based on the 5 + corked bottle examples). There was none of the usual P-L flavor markers but the body hung in there. Pains me to say this but drink up now unless you've got a larger format bottle. Maggie (+) would probably yield a higher score. 3.14.24. — 9 months ago

Maggie Harrison

9.0

nose jumped out. high toned. betting no malolactic. rich palate. richer than I expected. delicious. excellent — 3 years ago

Sam Wood

9.4

Layered warm 19’ vintage @ladder 4 in Detroit — 24 days ago

Andrew Formi

9.2

Fantastic — 5 months ago

Ericsson

9.4

Wine #1400th for me. I suppose destiny is destiny. Sort of has a special way of it find you, not you find it. Finally was able to try this highly coveted wine and with some age. Great chard, fresh and crisp with hints of stone fruit and citrus plus an earthy finish. Cheers. — 10 months ago

Eric

9.7

Really rich. In a great spot at 5 yrs. Great with seafood. — 3 years ago

Nathan Renfro

9.3

An enjoyable vintage, even if it’s not a top vintage, it still portrays typical P-C. Always enjoyable. Drinking very well with just a short decant. — 2 months ago

Jay Kline

9.4

Popped and poured; enjoyed over three days; consistent throughout with very little evolution. The cork basically disintegrated when trying to open. The 2009 Gran Reserva pours a deep garnet color with an opaque core, moving gradually towards a rust colored rim. Medium+ viscosity with moderate staining of the tears and some signs of sediment. On the nose, the wine is developing with notes of ripe and desiccated red fruits: Bing cherry, mulberries, spiced plum, cumin, dill, Balsamico, chocolate chip banana bread, toasted coconut, leather, cigar box, dry earth and exotic spices. On the palate, the wine is dry with medium+ tannins and medium+ acid. Confirming the notes from the nose. The finish is long and savory and super delicious. What a drop dead gorgeous Gran Reserva from Hermanos Pecina. This drinks well from the pop and pour opens up considerably with air so decanting 30min before would be advisable. Enjoy through 2039+. The cork was doing its job as it was only partially saturated, it just came apart in little pieces. I have several remaining bottles and I’ll plan on using an Ah-So or Durand with the next bottle. A stunning, ultra-traditional Rioja Tinto. — 8 months ago

Ian Hamel

9.1

2022/8. As I’ve noted lately, it feels like the de Villaine whites have added another level in the last several years - deeper, more complex and more satisfying, without sacrificing any joyousness and without trying to be Meursault or anything like that. — 2 years ago