1974 Chappellet Cabernet Sauvignon

Community Tasting Notes (15) Avg Score: 92.6 points

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  2/9/2024 - G_H wrote: 98 Points

  From a perfectly stored 0.75l bottle with an into neck level. This was an absolutely stunning bottle of wine. This, to my knowledge, was the last vintage made by Philipp Togni.
  
  Initially the hallmark Togni notes shine through: This herbacious, green, dense tannin structure and quite a chunky wine. With 30 minutes of air in the decanter, this opened up beautifully and the phenomenal vintage started to show. It became much broader, developed a beautiful sweetness and had such a multi-layered elegance with a dense body and long finish.
  
  When you ask "do these wines ever fully mature", the answer is yes, you just need half a century.
  
  We drank this over the course of a long dinner and once the wine hit that sweet spot, it just stayed there for hours.We had it side by side with a 1978 Shafer and the juxtaposition was striking. On one hand you have this Bordeauxesque beauty and on the other the fully or even slighty overripe Shafer that is a bit of an anticipation of what happend in Napa in the 90s. Both fantastic wines.
  
  With pristine bottles like this I still see decades of life ahead.

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  9/18/2022 - acyso wrote: 90 Points

  Pausing for the Cause 2022 (Part 2) (Chicago, IL): Others liked this more than I did (I preferred the 1977 Heitz Fay). Herbal but not particularly pyrazine-like notes, with lots of matured cabernet aromas as well -- leather and dried sweet fruits being quite prominent. On the palate, this definitely feels quite light, but at the same time I can't help but think it's thinning out a little. Probably a good time to drink up, if you happen to have any.

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  9/12/2022 - MountainwineFTW Likes this wine: 95 Points

  Absolutely stunning to taste a wide that still have excellent vibrancy and color. The wine had beautiful red fruit and a bit of dried plums and cherries. After an hour in the glass the wine slowly revealed red cassis, dried thyme, bell pepper, and red licorice. Obtained this from an estate sale and could not be happier this wine turned out excellent. I’m happy to have had the opportunity to taste this wine and it’s associated history. Wonderful to see how a good wine can age so beautifully.

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  3/3/2020 - La Flama Blanca Likes this wine: 93 Points

  Classic Cali! Deep, full and beautifully balanced with superb grip and length on the vibrant finish. Wine stayed strong for about an hour to an hour and half before it faded away in its glory.
  
  Tasted in flight of Sterling Cab, Clos du Val Cab and Beringer Georges de Latour Private Reserve all from 74 Vintage.

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  8/7/2019 - Cailles wrote: 92 Points

  Chappellet vertical (incl. the legendary 1969): They had some issues with the wine as it went to a slight second malo fermentation in the bottle. Still the nose of this wine was incredible. On the palate however it had some flaws, showed a bit fizzy and was not overly long. 92 points for the incredible (96/97) point nose.
  
  TN: An amazing, deep and precise nose displaying Mouton burnt sugar/roast aromas, coffee, deep cassis and dark forest berries, fresh and candied, some vegetal notes, slight spices. Same aromas along roasted herbs and clearly riper dark fruit. Seems younger, not dominated by tertiary aromatics but a good acidity and a slight fizz more apparent on the palate. Medium+ complexity, medium intensity, medium+ precision, medium- length. Overall well balanced but no stunner and some technical flaws.
  
  Decanting: A bit of air would not hurt but no extensive decanting necessary.

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