1976 Burgess Cabernet Sauvignon Vintage Selection

Community Tasting Notes (6) Avg Score: 93 points

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  7/19/2020 - ledocq Likes this wine:

  Maybe my most wine geeky experience so far. Bought at auction recently, so zero idea of how it was stored, but the fill level was good. Cork came out with no real problem, and the smell was, as you'd expect, death at first. Gave it about 30 minutes open, then was about to sip when it was intercepted by my drinking partner, who had no idea what it was. "It's funny - it smells old, but it tastes younger, except for the finish - it's metallic." True. We nursed a couple of small glasses for an hour, and concluded that after 44 years, this wine was alive, but just...okay. Like the longevity was amazing, but the taste was more interesting than good. "This is wine, but barely."
  We put it aside, and then two hours later I came back. Total transformation. Zero fruit, totally resolved tannins, and this smooth, long, leather-and-mushroom thing that was exciting to taste developing. The 1970s in Napa and in Bordeaux were a weird time, and this reminded me of them somehow, like the same Bicentennial culture that came up with Station to Station and Black and Blue came up with this wine. (I was drunk.) Complemented a Holy Grail kobe beef burger perfectly. Heaven.
  Drinking companion heard me rhapsodizing, and had another sip. Nose wrinkles. "Oh, baby, no, this is just a mouthful of bandaids."
  Right. Leather, mushrooms, brett. I should mention the brett. There's a lot of brett, apparently, and when she mentioned it I knew she was right. But it just felt like one instrument in the orchestra to me, and it wasn't a problem.
  I held onto about 1/2 glass for day two, and it was pretty much the same. TI was born ten years earlier but this might outlive me.
  In conclusion: worth the ride.

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  2/6/2018 - ChristyLeighNY wrote:

  Still drinking with plenty of color and complexity, but past its peak I think. Dark fruit notes, some tobacco and clove.

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  11/29/2017 - andtheodor wrote: 91 Points

  A large amount of very fine sediment clouded this bottle and gave a chocolately, marsala-like quality to it. After filtering, it was clear and much fresher. Sweetly fruited with some currant, powerful cola, and something savory like grilled steak. Texture was soft, plush, and round with a good backbone of tannin and acid still. Enjoyable but needed more time standing up.

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  7/6/2014 - VDLT Wine wrote:

  From Dave G. Murky & muddy. Pruney and very spicy but there are elements that are compelling. Ultimately, tedious.

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  12/9/2011 - pmevans wrote: 93 Points

  I don't know who the winemaker was at Burgess in the mid '70's to the mid '80's but he/whe knew what they were doing. This wine tasted like a 1994 Dunn cabernet. Fairly high alcohol for the period at 13.8%, and mountian grown fruit. Plenty of fruit and I also would say the tannins aren't certainly resolved yet, so the back end is just a bit dry. Long finish. This could certainly cellar for another 10 years. Very impressive

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