Community Tasting Note

Conover Likes this wine:

Sunday, December 22, 2013 - This bottle was a fairly low fill, about an inch above the label. I didn't expect much, but was amazed at the quality of this wine.
First opened, it was very closed in with the oxidized nose one would expect, but with the first taste I realized I had something special in my glass.
Most shocking was how little browning at the edges it displayed, even after 42 years. Just in from the slightly bricked edge, it transitions to an inky, deep red color. Easy to see why it was favored as a blending grape.
It quickly opened up in the glass and rewarded us with a balance rare in such an old California wine. Still solid, even and firm. No sign of the overwhelming tannins it showed when I bought it at the winery @1974.
Any fruit and berry character has long since been replaced with leather, caramel and black pepper in the nose and on the palette.
Typically wines this old have corks about to fail, and this was no exception, it needs to be enjoyed now, or if you have multiple bottles re-corked.
A fabulous example of the wines made during the emergence of the California wine industry onto the world's enological scene.

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