Solaia, Toscana

A year too late, still very lovely but past its peak. The prior five bottles were amazing!

2009 vintage

1985 Around the World : Despite the level being perfect, this seemed much more advanced than other bottles I had. Sweet soy sauce, plums, ethereal and a nice sweetness in the palate.

1985 vintage

decanted an hour after opening and started drinking after 1½ hours in the decanter. A little too soft by now, although 20 minutes later this was more fragrant with some woodsy notes. Very soft and supple on the palate. Probaby should have started drinking earlier as the wine may have had too much aeration.

1985 vintage

Thank you SKT for sharing yet another special bottle from your Bordeaux-heavy cellar, we had a wonderful time celebrating DQ's big birthday recently at Extra Supertanker. Well balanced, M+ acidity which was refreshing, but felt a little one dimensional compared to the expressive 1997 served 30 mins prior. But this is me nit-picking as we were so spoiled with amazing wines all showing on the evening. Tannins are fine, but structured, and I loved the long finish of plum and …

2009 vintage

I brought it to the lunch with the secondary classmates, decanted for one hour to serve, but still too young to enjoy. The aroma was subtle but silky palate and strong structure. It should be decanted 3 hours or leave it for few more years.

2009 vintage

Decanted 1 hours prior to serving and still evolved over dinner. Would say at least 2 hours decant. MEdium + alcohol, smooth tannins, ++ acidity, long finish ripe red cherry, blackberry, chocolate, mint, earthy with notes of licorice, pepper and leather.

2009 vintage

Fantastic wine. Sweet tobacco and cherry. Still fresh even at this age. This wine aged beautifully. Drink now.

1985 vintage

5 Hour slo-ox. This will need that or a decant unless you like your wine fairly tannic. Really pretty nose, especially after a swirl. Red cherry, ripe plum. Olive tapenade. Medium plus length. The Sangio comes through more than you'd expect given the proportions, in color, on the nose and on the palate. Very nice wine.

2009 vintage

Grosse bouteille encore à attendre. Robe très foncée, nez profond évoquant immédiatement un Super Toscan avec des notes nobles de Cabernet Sauvignon mais aussi une note plus fruitée et acidulée, cerise. Bouche à l’attaque crémeuse, pointe cassis, cerise, vanille, gros volume avec des tanins ultra-fins, qui évoque la touche Guigal, en plus doux, acidité très portante, finale puissante. 92-93 en l'état mais potentiellement Excellent 95 avec 10 ans de plus

2009 vintage

Just a little bit tired at this point but a great wine. Smoky nose, fruit still present, long and super elegant.

1985 vintage

Decanted four hours. Wonderfully smooth, rich wine with long finish. Drinking very, very well now after decant.

2009 vintage

Bottle #1: Blackberry, prune, tobacco, smoke, oak, chocolate, leather, liquorice, cherry Bottle #2: Coffee, Chocolate, Tobacco, leather, smoke, blackberry, prune, liquorice, mint, cherry

2009 vintage

Wonderful deep garnet. Fruity and earthy. Decant 2hrs and enjoy. Good for many more years.

2009 vintage

Smells like musty old Bordeaux at first, but the aromatics changed quickly with air and the fruit became far more expressive and clean on the nose. Very dark. Bold, ripe, and generally in a really nice place right now. I’d even go so far to say that this is pretty special. Agree with other comments here — this wine continues to improve with air, definitely decant for 2 hours.

1985 vintage

Trani. At Sgarra. Italy wins European championship. Really pumping out the fruit from pnp. Not that much development but the depth is quite impressive. I may just prefer Sassicaia which I think makes more use of the Cabernet profile. Not to mention Guado al Tasso.

2009 vintage

Wow very nice ready to drink after one hour of decanting great flavors of truffle mushroom black chocolate raspberry cherry. Full bodied wit sweet touch and super long vibrant finish

1985 vintage

Great wine to wrap up the Thanksgiving meal. Dense colored and bright hue. Very intense nose. There's the slightest hint of green but otherwise dark fruit with a little jam. The palate is rich and saturated. Loads of tannin with a very fine mouthfeel . Awesome wine.

2009 vintage

Truly spectacular, felt younger and fresher than the 01 Ornellaia next to it. Mint, blackcurrant, perfectly ripe and balanced, stunning!

1985 vintage

An opulent, plenty of fruits Solaia. Better in day 2. Ready to enjoy now.

2009 vintage

94 pts. Deep garnet red. Intense berry flavors blueberry blackberry first flashes od dark chocolate and truffle full bodied with silky textured tannins and long seducing finish

2009 vintage

Not quite as enticing as a bottle of this we had in early 2019. Still polished & enjoyable though, just not as expressive (particularly on the nose).

2009 vintage

Drank this next to a 09 mouton and 09 opus and this was my surprise as it was just so approachable and lovely. Well integrated tannins and flavors. But not quite in the league of the mouton. But trumped the opus. 93+ potential

2009 vintage

Rich wine and round, but at this poin not particularly attractive. Would give this a few more years to become more interesting.

2009 vintage

Kirsche, Wald- und Brombeere in der Nase. Zarte Erd- jnd feine Alterungsnoten. Am Gaumen lebendig, feines Tannin. Säure ordentlich vorhanden. Großartig.

1985 vintage

The ‘85 Solaia sports an attractive dark crimson hue and is an extremely robust Super Tuscan that is drinking in the perfect spot. Ripe, sweet fruit, balanced acidity and lush, melt in your mouth tannins confirm its undeniable longevity and legendary reputation. After 3 hrs in decanter, the perfume is on full display revealing intoxicating aromas of sweet black truffles, cedar, leather, violets and smoked BBQ. The palate imposes a thrilling combination of black cherry, mocha, licorice, and Italian spices …

1985 vintage

Excellent Solaia at its peak or very close to it. This was a sexy beast, offering a good dose of blackcurrant, vanilla, notes of forest floor and a polished tannic structure. Nice depth, freshness and a long finish on the palate. Even though the experience was great, I'm still convinced you'd have a very similar experience with Flaccianello at half the price. Enjoy now or hold for another 5-10 years.

2009 vintage

PnP Wonderful dense color reflecting the elements on the nose. Black and red fruited, cassis, compote and spice. Palate is ripe and full of fruit, tannins are soft, acidity is moderate and the length is incredible. This is an amazing wine that is probably just entering its prime form an early enjoyment standpoint. It has a ton of time left but is very enjoyable now.

2009 vintage

Enjoyed a bottle from the owners personal/family cantina while dining with a friend at Trattoria Arlati in Milano. Decanted for 30 minutes before exploring this well made wine. Dark cherry in color, sweet black truffle and cola on the nose, black cherry and tea on the pallet with faint traces of tannins and a good long finish. Wished I decanted it for longer as it got better with every taste. Drink now.

1985 vintage

On the nose said Italian but if tasted blind would have had to guess Chateau Beaucastel due to in-your-face,overwhelming brett notes. A disappointment.

1985 vintage

decanted for an hour prior to serving. Initially a little more dried out and grippy on the palate, but opened up nicely. So fragrant with nice smoked meat notes. Became softer on the palate after an hour in glass. Absolutely beautiful 2½ hours after the first pour. A stunning wine!

1985 vintage

This one hit all the sweet spots for me. Yes, it’s a big wine, yes it’s extracted, and yes it’s showing young, all of which are traits we generally try to avoid. Those qualities can also (more often than not, it seems) lead to a clumsy wine, or at minimum one that needs much further aging, but this just worked. While this obviously has years ahead of it, and will yet improve, it was a great companion to the perfectly …

2009 vintage

The wine performed relatively muted on both the nose and the palate, especially when comparing to other 85s we had that nights. I'm not sure if it actually needed to be decanted or the wine was actually past peak? A bit disappointed. On the nose, modest mushroom, purple berries, and tar, on the palate, although it was quiet overall, there was an underlying purple fruits acidity and modest spices and earthiness to the finish. We tasted full blind, and I …

1985 vintage

This wine should have been decanted. Very reticent showing mostly herbs and dark fruit. Would love to revisit it.

1985 vintage

Huge nose of black fruit, mokka, chocolate, expresso... very dense, almost thick, this is a super concentrated wine with a long life ahead, still very primary at this stage!

2009 vintage

Nice nose of dark fruits, earth, vanilla and currant. Big and bold on the tongue with a medium finish. Good but not great. A lot of better wines out there in this vintage for a fraction of the price.

2009 vintage

To me this drank very similarly to the 2007 I had in the same flight. The 2009 was almost Rhone reminiscent in the roasted meat, earth and spicy qualities I got on the nose. It was very rich and stylish in the mouth with a lingering finish.

2009 vintage

Geraldine fredric night

2009 vintage

Mushrooms and forest floor. Light red with orange and brown tones. Felt mature. Great wine. Drink now Drank with SW

1985 vintage

This wine is completely seductive and super delicious. The tannins are still quite stiff and will tame with time, but the power is amazing. Still super primary. Big notes of ripe juicy black fruits, currant, blackberry, plum. Clove, cinnamon, vanilla, spice box, cigar, cedar. Alcohol (14%) does just feel the slightest bit warming on the finish.

2009 vintage

Pretty much what I was expecting from this vintage (even if I wished otherwise), large-scaled, nearly opaque, plenty ripe. It's got several saving graces though, including good acids and tannins to balance the copious black and blue fruits. I'd say drink this now, get it while it's in its power mode, it's not overwhelming, it's rather a nice kick in the teeth, and fun to boot. The nose is stacked full of rich, ripe and exotic perfumes. Not all wines …

2009 vintage

Another Saturday at Chevalier...Mostly Blind (Chevalier Fine Wines - Chicago IL) : Tasted double blind. Mushroom and fully mature black fruit throughout with moderate weight. Age appropriate level of maturity, but with a firm acidic note on finish. Certainly interesting, but disappointing to see 30 yo Solaia when the wine was unveiled.

1985 vintage

Seems to be in just about the perfect spot right now. The fruit is still there, almost an extra ripe red flavor, but better balanced. That wonderful leathery flavor. There's this really interesting flavor right at the end that I can't quite place, but has a bit of a savory characteristic as well. Very good.

1985 vintage

Food: Italian Duration: 4 hours, decanted Condition: perfect Aroma: blueberries, redberries, nuts Notes: some smoke and cedar available in the aftertaste. A rather acidic finish. Quite a nutty nose with decent blue and red berries. Thus wine is probably at its prime drinking window right now.

1985 vintage

The wine looks ruby colored. It smells like blackberry, blueberry, cranberry, red currant, black currant (cassis), mushroom and black pepper.

1985 vintage

Dark red and thick ! Initially it was quite closed... After 2 hours in the decanter, the nose improved substantially, into a an earthy, dark, woody, robust, attractive fragrance. The mouth feel went from a fairly closed, but very positive experience to a much improved taste of leather, cedar, dark fruits. Very big. Some tannins persist, which tells me that a more optimal year to drink it is around 2020. I will keep my last bottle for that year, if …

1985 vintage

Bouquet mit Reifenoten (Pilz und Laub), aber auch mit Fruchtanklängen (Himbeere, Kirsche) und viel Karamell, etwas Leder, und erdigen Tönen; am Gaumen verspielt; erster Eindruck: leider sticht ein etwas dominanter Bitterton die erhaltene Frucht und die reifen floralen Aromen aus; doch dann entwickelt sich der Wein mit zunehmendem Luftkontakt unerwarteter Weise immer positiver: Fast jugendliche Fruchtaromen und weiche, gut ausbalancierte Tannine verschmelzen zu einem langen Abgang; tolles Trinkerlebnis! Rating im Verlauf deutlich nach oben korrigiert

1985 vintage

Wine Tasted at Acker Auction (Marea - New York NY) : Tasting, brief note. Came across as much older than we should have expected. Bottle condition or storage problem?

1985 vintage

WOTN out of 7 bottles, the only Super Tuscan in the flight, others were Bordeaux classics. Still lots of life and little bricking, well balanced and a wine that you just want to keep sipping!

1985 vintage

Sadly my last bottle. Dark crimson colour and still shows lots of life. Fantastic nose with cocoa and a finish that goes on and on. For those of you with bottles still in the cellar....why wait?

1985 vintage

Antinori Solaia Vertical with Luigi Fioretti (Handford Wines, London) : 14month of barrel aging here, still a Cab sauv/ Cab Franc blend. From the most famous vintage Dark red colour with brown tint. Looks much younger . Light caramel notes, liquorice, youngish on the nose. On the palate it is very youthful, alive, fruity, concentrated and lush. Has a nice purity even at this age and balance. Soft tannin nice finish. 92/93

1985 vintage

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Solaia, Toscana

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