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Tasting Notes 1999-05-18
"Old" wines available at Systembolaget
The Wines
| Name | Producer | Year | Country | District | Price (SEK) |
| Campofiorin | Masi | 1989 | Italy | Verona | 79 |
| Garrafeira | Acácio | 1985 | Portugal | Dăo | 78 |
| Montecillo Gran Reserva | Montecillo | 1982 | Spain | Rioja | 302 |
| Gran Reserva de Fondillón | Salvador Poveda | 1975 | Spain | Alicante | 108 |
Miscellaneous Notes
Kind of a different tasting; one purpose was to find out which reasonably priced, older wines Systembolaget (the Swedish Wine & Liqour monopoly) is currently offering. Also, we are normally tasting quite young ones and it would be fun to try some older, still available ones.
Systembolaget was not able to deliver all wines picked from the March/April price list and ordered in March. The reason given was that their supplier (Vin & Spritcentralen in one case) was out of stock. Still the wines appear in the May/June price list. This is not an unusual phenomenon; often there is a mismatch between the price lists (especially "Beställningsprislistan") and reality. Due to Systembolagets delivery problems I had to pick one bottle from my cellar, the Masi. When I'm in my complaining mode, I might as well continue: Systembolaget has a great WEB-based application where you can search for a specific wine and also find out in which one of their stores where it is available. Just one problem; you can't trust the result of your search. When you get to the named store, the wine is not to be found. The database is supposed to be updated each night but either this is wrong or the the database contains corrupted information! You better shape up, Systembolaget, or ... or what? Unfortunately there is no alternative due to the monopoly situation in Sweden.
The wines: You get what you pay for... The Montecillo was OK but I guess that a great part of the price was made up of interest rates and/or inflation. But how can anything 24 years old (the Fondillón) be as cheap as 108 SEK? Furthermore, it was a great wine but I sure can not understand how it might be listed under the heading "Red Wines" in Systembolaget's price list. It has to be a fortified wine. 15% alcohol, sweet, obvious similarities to a sweet Sherry or Tawny Port. Lovely wine though, even if it was out of the "Red Wine Context". Great price/performance ratio.
The Verdict
| 1989 | 1985 | 1982 | 1975 | |
| Lasse | - | - | - | - |
| Harriet | - | - | - | - |
| Micke | 83 | 80 | 87 | 92 |
| Helena | - | - | - | - |
| Robban | - | - | - | - |
| Susanne | - | - | - | - |
| Stefan | - | - | - | - |
| Annika | - | - | - | - |
| Sven | 86 | 75 | 89 | 91 |
| Lena | 84 | 81 | 87 | 90 |
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Updated May 18 1999 |
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