Community Tasting Notes 46

• Cailles wrote: 94 points

  February 5, 2023 - 30x California 1978: So many wines from this great Californian vintage at the age of 45 certainly qualifies as a “once in a lifetime” event. A few observations: 1) The quality was very high (almost all my ratings above 90pts). And only four faulty wines (2x corked, 2x over the hill/flawed, sadly those two were the Ridge Monte Bello and the Phelps Insignia). 2) The wines are ready to drink, the tannins have melted but the tension and freshness remain high - across the board. 3) There is still lots of fruit left and I was surprised how most wines didn’t show lots of tertiary aromas (find me the Bdx 1982 without tertiary aromas!). IMO, more than a handful of the wines could continue to improve for a few years. 4) Style wise, these are obviously quite different from today’s Napa wines with much less ripeness and more mineral accents. But hardly any wine we had would be mistaken for a Bordeaux in a blind tasting (unlike 80s/90s Dominus). 5) Best reds: Inglenook Limited Cask, Beaulieu GDL Reserve, Stags Leap Cask 23 4.5l (all 96pts), Heitz Bella Oaks, Simi Reserve, Stag’s Leap Cask 23 0.75l (all 95pts). The best wine overall, however, was the magical Late Harvest Riesling from Phelps (98pts).
  
  TN: Medium expressive nose with dark fruit but the bouquet is not as spectacular as the palate but still, quite inviting and pleasant. On the palate beautiful, expressive, fine. Fresh dark berries, herbs and earthy notes, hints of chocolate (!). A rather fine structural frame but still with tons of minerality, tons of tannins indicating that this wine could need a few more years in the cellar. I particularly like the cleanliness, the purity here.

  1 person found this helpful Comment

• G_H wrote: 96 points

  January 28, 2023 - 1978 California Cabernet Horizontal: Incredibly dense and opulent, ripe, multi-layered, well together but still dense. The Montelena Estate just needs time. I hope in 10 years my 1987s will be like this (and maybe in 20 the '01s)

  Comment

• sirpat00 wrote: 94 points

  January 28, 2023 - California 1978 (Zunfthaus zur Waag, Zurich): Grand tasting of 1978 California wines, mostly from Napa. Main takeaways: i/ surprisingly high quality on average for wines that were not intended for such long-term aging with plenty of primary fruit left, ii/ but within the detail nonetheless a broad range with the worst few suffering from clear signs of fatigue while the best showed hardly age, iii/ top wines were Phelps Cab Sauv (97), Firestone Cab Sauv (95), and Beaulieu George de Latour Private Reserve (95). Full list sorted by score included in the tasting story.
  
  Tasting note:
  This was one of the most concentrated wines in the line-up with ripe and extracted fruit of red cherry, darker berries of cassis. Also features of eucalyptus which transform into a medicinal touch after a while and licorice. An incredibly youthful palate with structure, depth and plenty of fruit. A long distance runner if ever there was one!

  Comment

• cortoncharlie wrote:

  December 25, 2020 - corked

  Comments (3)

• Vinnut Likes this wine: 96 points

  February 8, 2020 - Deep, dark ruby red in color with ever-so-slight bricking & clearing at the edges. Full, forward & wonderfully expansive nose of ripe fruit aromas of cherries, blackberries & plums with multi-layered overtones of earthy/dusty notes, aged tobacco, mint, graphite, anise, leather, mushrooms, spices/herbs, minerals & a hint of cedar in the background. Full bodied with a very good concentration of well balanced & smooth textured, well developed, ripe fruit flavors of dark cherries, blackberries & plums with spices, herbs, minerals, cocoa & cedar notes. Long lingering smooth finish. Drinks quite well at present but it is most likely at its pinnacle of development at 42 years of age & while I did not detect it heading towards decline, I doubt any further development would occur. I doubt many modern Napa Cabernets can match this wine's power, elegance & age ability. [Cork was fully intact; fill was in the lower portion of the neck.]

  1 person found this helpful Comments (1)

Pro Reviews 8

Wine Definition

• Vintage 1978
• Type Red
• Producer Chateau Montelena
• Varietal Cabernet Sauvignon
• Designation The Montelena Estate
• Vineyard n/a
• Country USA
• Region California
• SubRegion Napa Valley
• Appellation Napa Valley
• UPC Codes 573355500008, 733555251626

Community Holdings

• Pending Delivery 1 (0%)
• In Cellars 274 (64%)
• Consumed 155 (36%)

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