Segue a 1ª parte da lista de vinhos "perfeitos" (6 vinhos) de 2004 com os comentários de degustação e informações detalhadas de Parker. Para enriquecer um pouco mais as informações, acrescentei imagens das garrafas/rótulos dos vinhos (nunca se sabe quando vamos ficar frente a frente com algum deles...):
2004 Artadi Vina El Pison
Rioja, Spain
eRobertParker.com # 189 Jun 2010 Jay Miller 100 Drink: 2010 - 2050 $490 (450)
The 2004 El Pison stands out from its peers. It has a deeper color than the 2007 with a splendid nose that jumps from the glass. Notes of espresso, balsamic, Asian spices, pain grille, mineral, and black cherry lead to a velvety, mouth-filling, deep wine that effortlessly combines elegance with power. It should easily drink well for another 30-40 years. It simply does not get any better.
No visit to Rioja would be complete without a visit to Artadi and maestro Juan Carlos Lopez de Lacalle. Artadi’s most recent releases are the 2007s which were reviewed in Issue 183. On this occasion, we sampled the promising 2009s from barrel in addition to the 4 vintages of the flagship Vina El Pison (all of which have been previously reviewed, the 1995 and 1998 by Robert Parker). The El Pison comes from a single Tempranillo vineyard planted in 1945 on pure limestone.
2004 Benjamin Romeo Contador
Rioja, Spain
eRobertParker.com # 169 Feb 2007 Jay Miller 100 Drink: 2007 - 2106 $349-$479 (373)
The 2004 Contador is even better than the 2003 if that is possible. More expressive aromatically (a characteristic of 2004) this wine is more tightly wound and backward than the 2003. Unlike the 2003 it demands a minimum of a decade of cellaring and could well last for 75-100 years if well stored. Collectors will have a blast tasting these two wines side-by-side.
2004 Bodegas Fernando Remirez de Ganuza Gran Reserva
Rioja, Spain
eRobertParker.com # 189 Jun 2010 Jay Miller 100 Drink: 2010 - 2060
However, (surprise, surprise) even better is the 2004 Gran Reserva which has yet to be released. It spent 5 years in barrel before bottling. Purple/black in color with a surreal bouquet of kinky spice, truffle, mineral, and black fruit aromas, on the palate it is remarkably powerful, yet elegant. Mouth-filling, complex, and staggeringly rich, it has the balance to evolve for 15-20 years and should easily have a 50 year lifespan.
Bodegas Fernando Remirez de Ganuza is one of Rioja’s benchmark estates. It encompasses about 132 acres located in four regions of Alava Rioja planted to approximately 90% Tempranillo and 10% Graciano. The winery itself is located in the village of Samaniego. Upon my arrival at the Bodega in May 2010, I discovered a surprise. In addition to a vertical tasting of all the Reservas, Senor Remirez had prepared a similar vertical of Trasnocho, a wine that has never been exported to the USA. With all due respect, the greatest vintages from Bodegas Fernando Remirez de Ganuza in my opinion are 2004 and 2001. Trasnocho is Fernando Remirez de Ganuza’s take on a more contemporary style.
2004 Chapoutier Ermitage l'Ermite Blanc
Hermitage, Northern Rhone, Rhone, France
Wine Advocate # 170 Apr 2007 Robert Parker 100 Drink: 2010 - 2027 $233-$362 (250)
A compelling, profoundly great wine is the 2004 Ermitage l’Ermite blanc. This is extremely limited in availability, but the light gold color offers up a liqueur of pears, wet rocks, and honey. Citrus oil, viscosity, extraordinary richness, and acidity make this wine (like all of these Ermitages, made from 100% old-vine Marsanne) just exquisite. There is nothing like these wines anywhere in the world, and the fact that the single vineyard Ermitages are aged in 100% new oak, yet show no trace of oak whatsoever is mind-boggling. This is exquisite wine that you either drink in its first 3-4 years or forget for two decades.
2004 Chapoutier Ermitage le Meal Blanc
Hermitage, Northern Rhone, Rhone, France
Wine Advocate # 170 Apr 2007 Robert Parker 100 Drink: N/A $211-$315 (250)
The 2004 Ermitage Le Meal blanc (266 cases) is total perfection in the bottle. Of course, this is supposedly the vineyard that so impressed Thomas Jefferson when he visited Hermitage in the late 1700s. Boasting an amazing concentrated essence of licorice, minerals, acacia flowers, and buttery honey, the wine is viscous, super-thick, rich, and mind-blowingly intense. Having just had an utterly perfect bottle of DRC 1973 Montrachet, I couldn’t help but think that this wine may well be even younger at a similar age.
2004 Chris Ringland (formerly Three Rivers) Shiraz
Barossa Valley, South Australia, Australia
Wine Advocate # 186 Dec 2009 Jay Miller 100 Drink: N/A
The 2004 Chris Ringland Shiraz is from another top vintage. Like the other wines, it spent 42 months in new French oak. Aromas of scorched earth, pencil lead, espresso, black currant and blueberry lead to a dense, complex, youthful wine with layer upon layer of succulent fruit, impeccable balance, and a decade of aging potential.
Chris Ringland is a relatively modest bloke who gives most of the credit for his extraordinary wines to his nearly 100 year old vineyard. He now has 21 vintages under his belt the results of which place him with Marcel Guigal, Gerard Chave, Christophe Baron, Manfred Krankl, and Michel Chapoutier as the international grandmasters of Syrah/Shiraz.
