NV De la Riva Oloroso Viejisimo
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Robert Parker
Luis Gutiérrez, Wine Advocate
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This is one exceptional négociant NV in the "almancenista" range, the NV Oloroso Viejísimo Balbaína. I didn't get to see the final labels, but the wines will have the bottling date listed on the label. This is extremely old and concentrated, a beast of an Oloroso, with notes of rusty nails, low tide, coconut and varnished wood, very intense and with a clear volatile touch. Years and years of age have concentrated everything—alcohol, dry extract and acidity (a whopping 14.8 grams of tartaric!). The palate is intense, sharp, long, persistent and vertical but keeps a certain volume classical of the Oloroso, with a salty and rusty finish. They estimate this is over 70 years old and it had not moved in the last 30 years. It has the clear character of a very, very old wine, a bit extreme with parameters off the charts, acidity, volatility, salinity... 1,200 half bottles and a few magnums were produced.