1979 Cabernets Blindtasted

Tom's House, Palo Alto, CA
Tasted Thursday, September 24, 2009 by rjonwine@gmail.com with 841 views

Introduction

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Introductory comments by tasting organizer Ross Bott:
Tonight we'll have our final group of 1979 Cabernet Sauvignons and Bordeaux marking their 30th birthdays. Tonight we'll finish with several of the heavyweight Cabernets from the vintage, including both Montelenas (this was the last year that Montelena produced a Sonoma Cab as well as their Napa Estate Cab), the Diamond Creek "Gravelly Meadow" and the Chateau St Jean Wildwood Vineyard. The Chateau St Jean was made by Richard Arrowood while he was still winemaker there; he left to start Arrowood winery in 1987. At that time, Chateau St Jean was known for their benchmark Chardonnays from Robert Young and Belle Terre vineyards, as well as some spectacular late harvest Rieslings. However, Arrowood loved Cabernets and quitely make some small lots of great Cabs from old vineyards in Sonoma Valley. The Wildwood was one of his best. Another sleeper in this tasting is the Smith Madrone. Their Cabernets come from a cool vineyard in Carneros. The wines seem lean and tight when young, but blossom into Bordeaux ringers when old. A 1984 which I tried last weekend was doing splendidly.

Here's the lineup for tonight:

1979 Chateau Montelena, Sonoma (13.2%)
1979 Chateau Montelena, Napa Valley (13.5%)
1979 Diamond Creek "Gravelly Meadow", Napa Valley (12.5%)*
1979 Smith Madrone "Estate", Napa Valley (13.7%)
1979 Chateau Sociando Mallet, Haut Medoc (12%)
1979 Chateau St. Jean "Wildwood Vineyard", Sonoma Valley (12.9%)
1979 Rutherford Hill, Napa Valley (13.4%)
1979 Roudon Smith "Steiner Vineyard", Sonoma Mountain (13.5%)

* Note - although the '79 Diamond Mountain Gravelly Meadow was slated for this tasting of '79 Cabs, through an inadvertent error, the '78 of the same wine took its place. This probably gave it an unfair advantage in this lineup, as '78 was a better vintage than '79.

Flight 1 - Blind White Flight (3 Notes)

We were given the hint that all of these were the same varietal. Since the second and third, especially the third, smelled and tasted a lot like Sauvignon Blancs, that was the popular guess. They turned out to all be unoaked Chardonnays. Definitely a surprise.
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Flight 2 - My TNs and group scoring (8 Notes)

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  • 1978 Diamond Creek Cabernet Sauvignon Gravelly Meadow 89 Points

    USA, California, Napa Valley, Diamond Mountain

    Group's #1 (my #3) – 55 pts; 2 1st place votes, 3 2nd place votes, 3 third place votes, 0 last places - bricking dark cherry red color with pale meniscus; drying, balsamic, menthol, VA, tobacco nose; tobacco, tart currant, menthol palate; medium-plus finish

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  • 1979 Chateau St. Jean Cabernet Sauvignon Wildwood Vineyard 88 Points

    USA, California, Sonoma County, Sonoma Valley

    Group's #2 (my #4) – 58 pts; 2, 2, 3, 0 - dark red violet color; tart currant nose with a touch of camphor; tart berry, red currant, camphor nose; medium finish 88+ pts.

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  • 1979 Chateau Montelena Cabernet Sauvignon The Montelena Estate 92 Points

    USA, California, Napa Valley

    Group's #3 (my #1) – 61 pts; 4, 2, 2, 1 - bricking medium red violet color with pale meniscus; nice mature, tobacco, shitake mushroom, red currant, floral nose; mature, complex, tart plum, currant, mineral, berry, menthol palate with good acidity; medium-plus finish

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  • 1979 Smith-Madrone Cabernet Sauvignon Napa Valley 91 Points

    USA, California, Napa Valley

    Group's #4 (my #2) – 69 pts; 2, 2, 2, 1 - slightly bricking dark red violet color with pale meniscus; nice berry, dried berry, menthol nose; mature, tart berry, sweet balsamic, menthol, tart plum palate; medium-plus finish

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  • 1979 Chateau Montelena Cabernet Sauvignon Sonoma County 86 Points

    USA, California, Sonoma County

    Group's #5 (my #7) – 69 pts; 2, 4, 1, 2 - bricking dark red violet color with pale meniscus; musty, murky, tart black fruit, tobacco nose; graphite, tart plum, tart berry palate, drying out; short-medium finish

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  • 1979 Roudon Smith Winery Cabernet Sauvignon Steiner Vineyard 88 Points

    USA, California, Sonoma County, Sonoma Mountain

    Group's #6 (my #5) – 74 pts; 1, 2, 3, 2 - dark red violet color with pale meniscus; mature, earthy, beef jus, smoke nose; tangy, sweet beef jus, berry, plum palate; medium finish

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  • 1979 Rutherford Hill Cabernet Sauvignon Napa Valley 87 Points

    USA, California, Napa Valley

    Group's #7 (my #6) – 78 pts; 2, 1, 1, 2 - medium red violet color with clear meniscus; VA, tart currant nose; better on palate, but fading, tart currant, tart plum; medium finish

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  • 1979 Château Sociando-Mallet 84 Points

    France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Haut-Médoc

    Group's #8 (my #8) – 112 pts; 0, 0, 1, 8 - bricked medium red violet color with clear meniscus; mature, drying, tobacco, tart berry, VA nose; tart red berry, balsamic, menthol, tobacco palate; medium finish

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Closing

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