Community Tasting Note

Sunday, 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: Not much on the nose. On the palate a bit charmless, lots of minerality but not enough fruit sweetness to create a good balance. But don’t get me wrong, this is still a good wine with very classic proportions, very mineral driven.

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Comment posted by Wyneaux:

4/22/2023 1:00:00 AM - I highly recommend the 78 Phelps Eisele if you can find a well stored bottle that you can afford. If not, you might try to find a 78 Mayacamas which Antonio Galloni gave a 100 about 9 years ago or the 78 Heitz Martha's which John Gilman gave a 97 about 6 years ago (and noted "drink between 2016 - 2050"!!!).
Comment posted by Cailles:

4/26/2023 9:00:00 AM - Thanks for the input. Will try to seek out those. The Martha's was actually in the tasting too (and quite good but not on top). Big Martha fan here!
Comment posted by Wyneaux:

6/30/2023 11:28:00 PM - Oddly, I just noticed that according to my database, I have a 1982 Phelps Late Harvest Riesling somewhere in my cellar. Only 1 bottle tho, and no previous tasting notes....
Comment posted by Cailles:

6/30/2023 11:40:00 PM - I hope it‘s as good as the78!