25 Years on: 1985 Cabernets and Bordeaux Blindtasted Pt. I

Oh for the days when Cali Cabs aimed for balance, with alcohol levels down in the 12.5 to 13.5% range. This little retrospective took us back to those good old days, and was a nice launch for our series of '85 Cabernet blindtasting retrospectives, which are scheduled to continue through the year.

A couple of our wines were faulty and/or over the hill--the Mayacamas and the Haut-Batailley--but a couple of others were surprisingly youthful, i.e., my two top pics: the Chateau Meyney (also the group's overwhelming #1) and the Mondavi Reserve. The group rated the Beychevelle higher than I did, resulting in our two top wines both being Bordeaux (rather unusual for this group when comparing mature Cali Cabs and Bordeaux blind). I think our Haut-Batailley would have placed much higher, too, if it hadn't been somewhat affected by TCA. I attribute the group's high ranking of our Bordeaux to the superb balance and gracefulness of the '85 Bordeaux vintage, which has been showing very well for some years now. I would expect the trend of Bordeaux rising to the top to continue through the upcoming installments of this series of '85 comparative retrospectives.

Another surprise was the strong showing of a relatively unknown, defunct producer of Santa Cruz Mountains Cabernet--Sherrill Cellars. This small, family-run production began in 1973 and continued until 1995, operating out of Woodside. A few of the participants in our tasting, who have been sampling Santa Cruz Mountain producers for years, remembered encounters with the ownerr, Nat Sherrill (his wife Jan was the winemaker). They reported that he told them in '95 that he was retiring and moving away, fed up with all the work it took to run the wine operation, that had produced up to 2,000 cases a year.

Introductory comments by tasting organizer Ross Bott:
In 1985, the long, even, cool growing season was even kinder to the California Cabernet crop than it was to the Zinfandels. The wines showed fine fruit concentration, but with low alcohols and acids and structure much more like Bordeaux than typical California Cabs. And the Cabernets have shown a graceful longevity which has exceeded other highly regarded vintages around them such as 1984 and 1986. Over the upcoming months, we'll have a series of tastings covering most of the best California Cabernets and Merlots.

Tonight we'll start with a lineup featuring the Robert Mondavi Reserve, Mayacamas, Chateau St Jean, and Phelps on the California side. And for the Bordeaux side, we'll have Beychevelle, Haut Batailley and Meyney:
1985 Chateau St Jean, Alexander Valley (12.3%)
1985 Robert Mondavi "Reserve", Napa Valley (12%)
1985 WIlliam Hill "Reserve", Napa Valley (12.9%)
1985 Mayacamas, Napa Valley (12.5%)
1985 Sherrill "Lucchesi Vineyard", Santa Cruz Mountains (13.2%)
1985 Phelps, Napa Valley (13.2%)
1985 Chateau Beychevelle, St Julien (12.5%)
1985 Chateau Haut Batailley, Pauillac (12%)
1985 Chateau Meyney (12%)

• 1985 Château Meyney 93 Points

  France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Saint-Estèphe

  Group's #1 (my #1) – 37 pts; 4 first place votes, 5 second place votes, 1 third, 0 last places – bricking dark red violet color; herbaceous, tobacco, menthol nose; tasty, harmonious, herbaceous, beef gravy, tobacco, mushroom, olive palate; medium-plus finish

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

• 1985 Château Beychevelle 88 Points

  France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Saint-Julien

  Group's #2 (my #5) – 53 pts; 3, 1, 0, 0 - bricked medium dark red violet color; very mature, tobacco, VA, green olive nose with a touch of brett; very mature, tobacco, cigar box, menthol palate; medium-plus finish

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

• 1985 Chateau St. Jean Cabernet Sauvignon Alexander Valley 88 Points

  USA, California, Sonoma County, Alexander Valley

  Group's #3 (my #4) – 53 pts; 3, 0, 3, 0 - dark red violet color; oak, savory, smoke, baked berry, chocolate, plum nose; rich, berry, chocolate, fig, menthol palate; medium-plus finish 88+ pts.

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

• 1985 Sherrill Cellars Cabernet Sauvignon Luchessi Vineyard 89 Points

  USA, California, Santa Cruz Mountains

  Group's #4 (my #3) – 58 pts; 1, 0, 4, 0 - dark red violet color; lovely, maturing, berry, plum, blackberry, herb nose; mature, plum, berry, black fruit palate; short-medium finish

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

• 1985 Robert Mondavi Winery Cabernet Sauvignon Reserve 91 Points

  USA, California, Napa Valley

  Group's #5 (my #2) – 60 pts; 1, 2, 1, 1 - slightly bricking dark red violet color; VA, tobacco, mint, camphor nose; youthful, cassis, mint, eucalyptus palate; medium-plus finish

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

• 1985 Joseph Phelps Cabernet Sauvignon Napa Valley 86 Points

  USA, California, Napa Valley

  Group's #6 (my #7) – 65 pts; 0, 2, 1, 0 - bricking dark red violet color; mint, cedar, oak nose; mature, tight, pinched, tart cassis, cedar palate; short-medium finish

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

• 1985 Mayacamas Vineyards Cabernet Sauvignon 67 Points

  USA, California, Napa Valley

  Group's #7 (my #9) – 89 pts; 1, 1, 1, 4 - dark red violet color; weedy, herbal, VA, Pine Sol nose; mature, earthy, out of balance and pinched palate; short finish

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

• 1985 William Hill Winery Cabernet Sauvignon Reserve 87 Points

  USA, California, Napa Valley

  Group's #8 (my #6) – 90 pts; 0, 2, 1, 0 - very dark red violet color; mature cassis, plum, herbal nose; herbal, tart black fruit, menthol palate with some astringency and backward tannins; medium finish

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

• 1985 Château Haut-Batailley 82 Points

  France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Pauillac

  Group's #9 (my #8) – 102 pts; 0, 0, 0, 7 - bricking medium dark red violet color with pale meniscus; TCA, menthol nose; mature, mushroom, tobacco palate, seemingly only slightly impacted by TCA; medium finish

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