Westy vert (02,07,12)

[kscaldef]

Popped these side-by-side a few nights ago. Wish I could remember who sent them, but the '02 was part of Math Trade #?? and he extra'd the '07. I picked up the '12 when the bricks hit the US.

2002

A: Good clarity on the first half of the bottle (let some sediment slip into the second glass). S: Very vinous. Raisins, prunes. T: Interesting floral notes (lavender? slight soap?) on top of dates, dried figs, and prunes. M: minimal carbonation.

2007

A: Good clarity, deep garnet. S: Cherries on the nose. Lighter vinous notes, brandy. T: Very vinous. Cherry, grape, berries. M: light carbonation.

2012

A: More noticable carbonation. Good clarity. S: Caramel and cotton candy, slight orange. Mild banana. T: Comes across somewhat flat and thin compared to earlier vintages. Slight cardboard? Light alcohol in the mid-to-back palate. Good carbonation.


Overall, this was quite an eye-opener. I've heard people say Westy ages particularly well, but I still was not prepared for how dramatically different the old bottles would be. I don't have much experience with aged quads, but my wife and I were both struck by how interesting the old bottles were; as well as how different all the vintages were as far as the aromas and flavors they presented. My wife picked up more of that floral / soapy note in 2002 and as a result ranked them 2007 > 2012 > 2002. I noticed more cardboard in 2012, and would rank them 2002 > 2007 > 2012.

I'm a little concerned about the cardboard in the 2012, and I know other people have speculated that corners may have been cut on the brick bottlings, but in general I think I'd definitely consider adding a few of these to my cellaring program.

 

[stakem1]

Obviously age played a big role in your experience here and its cool to see it "opened your eyes."

However, has anyone else found westy 12 to vary quite a bit from batch to batch? (Not that ive consumed a ton of it but enough to notice some bottles being more herbal and others being more malty without being sent to the confines of cellaring for years.) Last bottle I opened was very phenolic and yeasty and it was a real turn off to me. Sounds like your 2012 bottle was oxidized already which is a shame because that will only get worse with age unless it was an anomaly with just your bottle and not the entire batch.

 

[JulianB1]

Every bottle I've opened or seen opened from the bricks has been a bit of a gusher, did you notice any of that here?

 

[kscaldef]

Every bottle I've opened or seen opened from the bricks has been a bit of a gusher, did you notice any of that here?

No. It was definitely more carbonated than the older bottles, but not a gusher by any means.

 

[claaark13]

Obviously age played a big role in your experience here and its cool to see it "opened your eyes."

However, has anyone else found westy 12 to vary quite a bit from batch to batch? (Not that ive consumed a ton of it but enough to notice some bottles being more herbal and others being more malty without being sent to the confines of cellaring for years.) Last bottle I opened was very phenolic and yeasty and it was a real turn off to me. Sounds like your 2012 bottle was oxidized already which is a shame because that will only get worse with age unless it was an anomaly with just your bottle and not the entire batch.

It is buried in a BA conversation, but @brabander did a tasting of various bottles from recent runs that he was given for testing purposes and found that there was some actual variance in the flavors. I'd be surprised if the same information isn't somewhere on his FB page as well. I personally have noticed some slight differences between 2010 - 2012, specifically some being more phenolic and higher carbonation than I recall my first 2010 bottles being, but I've not had any vintages more recent than that. We are aging a case of 2012 for our first kid, a batch that I found to be less sweet than others, so I'll be interested to see how that ages. I'll report back in like November 2017.