TN: A.G. Pacheco

[Eric Ifune]

Purchased from the Rare Wine Co. as part of the Leacock Collection sold in London last year.
A.G. Pacheco was probably the grower. This was a wine held by many shippers as their personal stock.
I had this once before as part of the Rare Wine Company's tasting in San Francisco. It had a lot of bottle stink at that time and difficult to evaluate. This time,I deliberately gave this lots and lots of air time.
Tattered paper label; very old glass bottle full of inclusions and air bubbles. Remnents of an old capsule underneath the newer one. Newish cork of good quality.
Decanted through three layers of cheese cloth. Kept in the decanter two days, then transfered back into the original bottle. First tasted at this time. Brilliant glowing amber, gold-green. Like a mix of extra virgin olive oil and molasses. Nice aromas of citrus, Christmas spice cake, caramel. No bottle stink now. Almost flavorless attack, but then a pronounced bitterness (Terrantez?), then more fruit and a long finish. I then left this untouched for two weeks. (I was out of town) Tasted again, now more fruit. More intense aromas. Dryish, in-between a Sercial and Verdelho. Rich body, but quite a lean mid-palate. The leaness probably from the decades of bottle age. Tasted intermittently over the next 10 days. Same beautiful, glowing color. Rich, intense aromas. Has improved and put on some weight, but that leaness in the mid-palate and some lack of fruit detracts some. Scored 91, but would have been an absolute beauty some decades ago. Perhaps other bottles have a bit more fruit. These would be superb.

[Marco D.]

Fantastic note. Thanks for the extended effort to document your impressions...

[Roy Hersh]

+1.


Boy do I remember that stinky bottle too. Phew!