A couple weeks ago had a 2006 PARADOR RESERVA at ANGELE in Napa and it was so vibrant and young, I decided to find out how these 1999’s in my cellar are doing.  I am not the biggest Sangiovese fan but love big, bold, extracted Super-Tuscans and ITG’s.  This one, oh boy, does it ever check all those boxes.  Lists Sangiovese and Tempranillo but no ratios or amounts.  Young, this was a monster.  And headed into 15 years, showing no signs of letting up.

Lightish garnet with bricking edges.  Stains glass orange.  Instant huge nose of off-putting vegetal–like the nose on a Pinot Noir which has turned.  Disappears almost immediately and morphs into the most heavenly brier, cut-stem, wet sawdust, cedar-pencil-with-wet-lead I have experienced in a while.

This isn’t one of those wines you just want to sit and smell for hours and hours–you NEED to drink it!  Absolutely mouth-FILLING on entry.  Massive ripe fruit STILL rules over everything and slowly turns into still-ample tannins.  Quite polished, but still there.  ALL the fruit is still there.  The perfect balance for a wine with another 10 years on it.  So amazing right now, it is hard to fathom another ten years, and I doubt if the remaining bottles in my cellar with see a decade.

1999 PARADOR Riserva Red Wine Napa Valley 14.2