1978 Simi Cabernet Sauvignon Reserve Alexander Valley

Community Tasting Notes (10) Avg Score: 96.3 points

• Options

  • Post a Comment
  • View G_H's profile
  • Report Issue

  3/19/2023 - G_H wrote: 99 Points

  Wow, even better than previous bottles, this had a super intense nose of caramel, toffee, black fruit, plums and some menthol and eucalyptus. Still fresh and intense also in the palate. Absolutely stunning bottle!

  Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Comment

• Options

  • Post a Comment
  • View Cailles's profile
  • Report Issue

  2/5/2023 - Cailles wrote: 95 Points

  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: Intriguing nose with ripe red berries, some candied notes. On the palate more spectacular with a wonderful velvety, creamy mouthfeel, no weight, melted tannins and a good acidic backbone. Lots of ripe red fruit, hints of darker berries, herbs, rocks. So harmonious, elegant and pure. Spectacular. The regular Simi Cabernet in the next glass (rated 93pts) had the same character and style but had a bit less of everything. Anyway, this was a great pair of wines and a testament of how great this winery was back in the day.

  1 person found this helpful, do you? Yes - No / Comment

• Options

  • Post a Comment
  • View G_H's profile
  • Report Issue

  1/28/2023 - G_H wrote: 97 Points

  1978 California Cabernet Horizontal: One of the absolute standouts from 1978 and still so incredibly fresh and young. Mint, cassis, blackberries, young and dense. LOVE IT!!

  Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Comment

• Options

  • Post a Comment
  • View sirpat00's profile
  • Report Issue

  1/28/2023 - sirpat00 wrote: 94 Points

  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:
  Quite similar to the Similar Cab Sauv, but in a less show-off way and more refined. Ripe berry fruit and herbal complexity of mint and nettles. The palate was equally smooth, but more delicate with a softer tannic structure.

  Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Comment

• Options

  • Post a Comment
  • View G_H's profile
  • Report Issue

  10/19/2021 - G_H wrote: 96 Points

  Butter, caramel, camomile, mint, cassis and eucalyptus. This is juste pure California goodness. Still so young and fresh!

  Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Comment

View all 10 Community Tasting Notes

Professional reviews have copyrights and you can view them here for your personal use only as private content. To view pro reviews you must either subscribe to a pre-integrated publication or manually enter reviews below. Learn more.