1989 Maynard

[LGTrotter]

Having missed out on the 40yo bonanza at Aldi I bought one of these, just to see.

Darkish, some brown at the rim. Came cleanly away from the sediment, of which there was not much. A very peculiar nose, which is almost off-putting, I am tempted to reach for the warm rubber band analogy, but this has more of the toasted Goodyear about it. The flavour could be charitably described as showing secondary characteristics, it does not seem over the hill, but this would imply that it has raised itself to some sort of height, which it hasn't. Not actually unpleasant, I quite like cough drops in port, but this is too sweet and loose. It is not worth the £20 it costs, which is some sort of an achievement for a 26yo wine.

[Alex Bridgeman]

That actually sounds to be worse than the Cruz 1989 - that's quite an achievement!