Looks like the US wine market has gone crazy for the 04 Spanish Vintage. Jay Miller's scores in WA169 seem to have sparked something of a panic with US wine retailers. Of the wines available in Australia, big nods given to Pingus and Termanthia. Clos Erasmus, Benjamin Romeo Contador, Artadi El Pison also got a perfect score. Loads of other wines got record scores. I don't read WA, but I might have to see if I can't get a copy of this issue. Of course, this merely confirms the reports from the Spanish wine media, who have been awarding the highest ever scores to wines from this vintage.
I get the odd unsolicited email from US wine retailers, today I got 30. Strangely, most of the emails still credit Robert Parker with these scores and tasting notes. Its interesting to note that there seems to be something like disbelief from many of the posters on the eRobertParker BB. I wonder if Scott Wasley will swap my old Fender Jazz Bass for a bottle of Pingus….
My god Shaggy,
don’t think this is a good thing
I’ll swap a bottle of old Hunter shiraz for your Fender? Seems fair.
GW
Only if its got 100pts from Dr. Jay!
I’ve got some of the second wines from some of these guys on the way, should be an interesting few days…
The disbelief ended and the Spanish wine market went into hyperdrive when Parker posted this comment on the BB:
“I tend to think the smart money is on Jay’s Spanish wine reviews…some of you may not know, but Jay has more experience tasting wine than I do(having tasted with him for 20+years, he is usually a tougher grader than I am….I think his reviews are very much on target…a truly profound Spanish vintage intersecting with a young generation of men and women who have been pushing the qualitative envelop for nearly a decade…moreover, they are exploiting some of the finest terroirs in the world….the fact that only Victor is the sole poster to ACTUALLY have tasted the wines(I have had four of the 100 point wines and don’t quibble a nano-second with Jay’s notes) is an embarrassment to this board and to the usual civilized discourse and commentary that makes this board so special…..Spain is producing many of the world’s most exciting wines….if you are unable to accept that… too bad(for you)….but the wine world has never been so exciting
Thanks for the update Paul. That whole thread is an interesting read.
I’m having a look at the Numanthia tonight, so I’ll see what all the fuss is about then.
Looks like you haven’t mentioned all that much on your website about the Artadi El Pison….
Massive differences between rrp on 1999 vs 2006 - What are your thoughts on the vintages??
Hi RR,
Very good timing, I am just writing up my tasting at Artadi now, it will be on the site tomorrow.
There is a huge jump in price between the 2005 and 2006, plus smaller increases from 99 to 2005. One reason may be due to the fact the wine is sold en-premiuer and that after a couple of very good reviews from all around the world demand is very high. It is now well out of my price range, but you can still pick up back vintages in Spain for about 100 Euros…
It will be interesting to see what happens for the 2007 vintage.
just read the tasting notes now!! (very very jealous!).. looking forward to a producer profile from you…
reason i am asking is i had a chance to buy a 1999 and 2000 Artadi El Pison recently but was reluctant because of the cheaper price and thought perhaps there might have been a problem with those vintages.. have you sampled any Artadi from 99 or 00?? if the 99 or 00 El Pison are in the same league as the last couple of vintages i’m pouncing on them…!
They are in the same league as recent vintages, however 99 and 00 are not up to the levels of 2004 and 2005. I found the 01 around for about 110 Euros…
However, the winemaker for these vintages (99 and 00) was Benjamin Romeo. These were his last two vintages before he went out on his own. So they are something special.
interesting… i think i’ll get one and let you know what i think… :))
I thought the 2000 El Pison was a lot better than the 1999. 1999 was one of the weaker recent vintages for Rioja.
I’ll second that Paul, I would go for the 2000 (a hotter vintage but quite good)
Done! i’ll pick the 2000 over the 1999.. just out of interest guys, just how much would you both pay for the 2000? $200au.. $300au..??
Well, the last sale of the 2000 at langtons was $160ish in 2008 ($138 plus 15% commission). So I would be happy to pay $160-$200 depending on how badly you want to have a look at these wines. I would also expect the storage of these wines to be perfect at those prices.
To give you an idea of the cost of the 2006, it would cost you about 5 times more to buy the 2006 El Pison at retail here.
that was what got me thinking - $850 retail for 06 (and clearly the hype is a big part of that price)…
but surely the 06 can’t be even twice as good as the 2000???
i am keen to try the el pison though - and if its stored well am finding it hard to ignore the 00 compared to the price of the 06..