Wineflock - California Cabernet from the 1970s
Rich's
Tasted Thursday, January 31, 2008 by winefool with 809 views
Introduction
This was a fun and interesting evening, even if the wines did not show as well as they had the year before (which I missed). These are not knockout wines by any means, but several of them were quite enjoyable and it is certainly interesting to taste a bit of Calfornia history.
One thing that I noticed was the difficulty in assigning actual scores to these wines. Do you get bonus points for surviving 30 years? What is the difference in taste between a 78 point wine and an 84 point wine - just don't have much experience exploring these. So take these scores with an extra grain of salt than usual...
All wines blind as usual.
1971 Heitz Cellar Cabernet Sauvignon 88 Points
USA, California, Napa Valley
Group #6, My #7 - Medium light crimson ruby color. Medium lifted black fruit nose with slight clean coffee hint. Nice medium round red fruit with good acidity. A little short on the finish.
Post a Comment / Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Report Issue
1978 Jordan Vineyard & Winery Cabernet Sauvignon Alexander Valley 89 Points
USA, California, Sonoma County, Alexander Valley
Group #7, My #4 - Full deep red color with some lightening. Medium red fruit with a canned note and some spicy green elements. Nice full black fruit with some spice, cedar, and a mint hint. Some structure remaining.
Post a Comment / Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Report Issue
1974 Beaulieu Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon Georges de Latour Private Reserve Flawed
USA, California, Napa Valley
Group #9, My #10 - Borderline undrinkable to me. Clearly a bad bottle as I've had this before to much better effect. Cloudy soft round crimson with lightening. Stinky madierized hot red fruit on the nose. Off coffee palate with madierized acidity. Clearly unbalanced. Couldn't believe that the group didn't have this unanimously last...
Post a Comment / Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Report Issue
1978 Beaulieu Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon Rutherford 80 Points
USA, California, Napa Valley, Rutherford
Group #10, My #9 - Full soft red color with lightening. Soft nose of pale graphite and round bright red fruit. A bit stinky. Pale soft angular acidic red fruit - somewhat out of balance and not much fruit left here. Not obviously flawed though.
Post a Comment / Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Report Issue
1970 Inglenook Vineyards Cabernet Sauvignon Cask G-12 90 Points
USA, California
Group #8, My #3 - Full deep purple with slight lightening - one of the youngest looking wines in the bunch. Medium full tight (?!?) black fruit on the nose with some briar notes. Decent black fruit on the palate with some spice and coffee notes. Longish finish. Built to last.
Post a Comment / Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Report Issue
1972 Ridge Cabernet Sauvignon Monte Bello 93 Points
USA, California, Santa Cruz Mountains
Group #2, My #1 - Full deep black red color. Wonderful nose of chocolate, black fruit, and mint. Nice rich black fruit wiht a hint of sweetness and a longish finish with a coffee note. I really think the group missed this one as it was clear WOTN to me.
Post a Comment / Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Report Issue
1977 Robert Mondavi Winery Cabernet Sauvignon Napa Valley 88 Points
USA, California, Napa Valley
Group #5, My #6 - Full crimson red color. Medium nose of clean bright red fruit. Medium soft red fruit with some tannins remaining, but a bit short. Rubbery note?
Post a Comment / Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Report Issue
1978 Robert Mondavi Winery Cabernet Sauvignon Reserve 90 Points
USA, California, Napa Valley
Group #1, My #5 - Soft red crimson color. nice medium nose of spicy briar black fruit with a hint of heat. Medium red frui with some spice and heat/acidity. This did improve a bit with some time in glass, but I still didn't see it as WOTN at all.
Post a Comment / Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Report Issue
1978 Heitz Cellar Cabernet Sauvignon Bella Oaks 92 Points
USA, California, Napa Valley, Rutherford
Group #3, My #2 - Full clean ruby red with crimson edges. Medium nose of mint coffee red fruit. Nice full sweet red spicy fruit with a good long structured finish.
Post a Comment / Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Report Issue
1978 Carmel Bay Winery Cabernet Sauvignon 87 Points
USA, California, Central Coast, Monterey County
Group #4, My #8 - Full deep purple with lightening clear edges. Forward canned purple fruit nose. Medium red/black friut with a hint of spicy, but a watery mid-palate and shortish finish. Canned note carried through on the palate as well (a bit reductive perhaps?).
Post a Comment / Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Report Issue