1982 Chateau Palmer
From the extraordinary vintage 1982, Palmer is riding a wave of hedonistic enjoyment at 30 years of age. It is a beautiful wine in all respects.
The wine has transformed to a beautiful garnet colour, medium intensive and slightly turning to brownish on the rim. Sweet plum, violets, toasty/honey and resin notes in the nose. It is full of ripe plum taste (from 42% merlot) and toastiness along with perfume and also showing the really nice developed notions of black tea and spices so evident in some of the well matured bordeaux wines. Really round and silky in the mouth, nice sweet developed tannins. Also some of the nutty / toasted nuts feeling in taste, which I also got from an 1988 Palmer earlier - a trademark of the Chateau it seems. Multidimensional, the initial palate is so full of ripe fruit, then turning to the black tea and liquer-like moutfheel, the aftertaste being unbelievably long. Although not really loved by Mr. Broadbent in his books, I really enjoyed this beautiful wine.
1986 Chateau Lynch-Bages
The '86 Lynch-Bages was seemingly more brownish than the 1982 Palmer, however the garnet colour was more (medium +) intensive. Led pencil, coffee and blackcurrant and slightly green notes in the initially somewhat lean nose. Round with nice acidity, the mouthfeel has ripe cherry (!) and plum fruit as well as vanillin, the mid-palate is though dry then the sweet fruit comes broad and long in the aftertaste. Tannins still dry your mouth somewhat. This is a lean yet somewhat ripe expression of Lynch Bages. Has aged really well.
1992 Vega Sicilia Valbuena No.5 Cosecha
Garnet colour, more brownish than 1982 Palmer or 1986 Lynch-Bages, with a watery rim. This is loaded with really sweet & ripe black fruit feeling (although naturally being a totally dry red wine), leather, barnyard and black tea notes, with a beautiful rasperry, spicy plum, black tea, vanillin. moccha and animalic notes on the tongue - this is like tons of ripe & spicy plums filled in a horse's leather saddle bag. Tannins fully integrated and really good acidity. Great lenght, developing to toasted nuts / raisins notes. A great wine!
1994 Mas la Plana
The Torres' cabernet sauvignon experiment in Penedes had aged well, showing a perfumed nose with herbal and green notes. The colour is still purple. Ripe fruit content has concentrated to a nice, sweet and slightly toasted blackcurrant elixir, with some animal sweat mixed with it. However tannins are still gripping and the wine seems like being oaked too much. Still an enjoyable wine though. Nice to see the potential in Mas la Plana, however little less oak and this would have been wonderful.
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