A fairly pleasant bottle of bubbles, and the first non-joke-tier sparkling zinfandel that I can remember ever tasting. The sweet fruit is very up front both on the nose and palate. It's not too complex, and the fruit gives this a much sweeter profile than I generally like. There's probably some acid sneaking around in the back here, but I do with overall that this had more cut.

Probably one of my favourites of the evening. This is a fully mature bottle, with a delicate, elegant perfume on the nose that shows a little bit of dried fruit and a touch of green pepper and dried herbs. The palate is fully resolved; there is still structure, but it is enrobed with plush secondary fruit. If I had to criticize, it's that the fruit is just a little touch more browned and mature, but it's mostly a quibble. This is probably at the end of its plateau; for my palate, this is in an awesome place, and should be opened now.

In its own right, I'm sure this would be far more than adequate to drink, but it certainly suffered being next to some more illustrious wines. This has a huge amount of pyrazines on the nose, as well as some fairly ripe red fruit. The palate is acid-driven, which also provides the structure; this isn't a particularly rich or potent wine, and feels a little thin, especially in context. Enjoyable now, and probably best sooner than later.

It's so odd that one of the oldest wines tonight seems to be the one with the most life left. This is closed up tight, with a dark complexion and tons of dust and tannins. There's a mild hint of tobacco as well, but the fruit elements here seem to be bundled up underneath this massive wall of tannin. Probably the most inscrutable of the wines tonight -- this just feels unresolved, shut down, and not ready.

Again this is a wine that shows a fair bit of pyrazine on the nose. It's also a fairly burly wine, though next to the 1985, this feels downright open for business. The fruit here also seems to land on the black side of the spectrum, and there's overall quite a bit to like here, but again it's just not the most open right now. About half the table preferred this to the 1987, though I was in the camp that preferred the younger.

In terms of intensity and overall complexity, I would say that this was the lesser of the 1986/1987 pair. It's a softer wine, with the structure less prominent, and in a more resolved state. There's a nice hit of pyrazine on the nose that isn't over the top. The finish here is not tannic; in fact, this is a wine that is amply ready for consumption now. The fruit is still present, with mostly secondary character now.

Something not quite right here. This was a dull thud of a nose, and when I tasted it, there was a little corkiness on the palate.

There's a mild bit of brett on the nose here, giving this a relatively dirty, barnyardy nose. The palate is much better than the nose though, showing some really lovely red fruit and cherry flavours -- it's a little heady and ripe, but overall the balance is there and this doesn't feel hot. Another bottle that I'd say is ready to go now, though I suspect this is resting comfortably on the plateau of maturity.

Another wine with a hint of brett on the nose, though it wasn't as prominent as the 1989, so that a hint of the pyrazine actually also comes through on the nose as well. Fully resolved, with tannins that are present but not overwhelming. The fruit is a nice mix of red and black, and still comes across as a little bit fresh. Nonetheless, the relatively resolved structure makes me think that this is another bottle that is at its maturity plateau.

This wine was a bit of an outlier in the context of the entire evening -- it's the ripest, fleshiest, and most sweet of all of them. A veritable fruit bomb, but done right. The nose and palate have an intense black raspberry cordial thing going on, and this is a wine completely dominated by its fruit. Ripe and sweet, but the alcohol is held in check, and this isn't goopy or cloying. However, my concern here is that for such a massive wine, the structure seems to be lacking. This is quite enjoyable but given the fabled reputation of the vintage, I have to say I expected a little more.

This wine is stunning. I've had it once before where it performed remarkably well, and again tonight where it was my favourite of the long 1983-96 vertical. It's as classic as cabernet can get -- the red fruit here is almost tart rather than sweet, there's just a slight hint of balancing pyrazine, and the nose also offers up a touch of earth and floral perfume. The palate is cool, with the acidity driving the fruit, rather than the other way around, and the red fruits here are of a tart nature. There's still some grippy tannins, but to my palate, this is ready to drink, though in no danger of falling apart anytime soon.

This was relatively nondescript, especially coming after the brilliance of the 1992. The nose has a mild earthy element to complement the red fruit. Again, this seems to be an acid-driven wine, but the palate doesn't deliver anywhere as much complexity as the 1992. Another bottle that doesn't seem to have too much structure, this is a wine I'd say is ready for drinking now.

This bottle doesn't quite jive with my last experience with this wine; there's quite a bit of volatility on the nose here, almost giving this a little bit of a balsamic character. In fact, the nose and the palate are both fairly heady, with the palate fairly simplistic by its showing a bunch of pleasant red fruit.

I really loved what was going on in this bottle (or perhaps, what wasn't going on). It's a wine that definitely isn't ready, and in fact the best analogue I had to this was the mysterious 1985. It's a wine that shows more of a leathery component, with more black fruit and dusty elements (feels a little Bordelais, if you ask me). The palate is very full, with the sweet black fruit providing some counterpoint to the massive tannins. Needs lots of time to come around, but this should be another great bottle in the making. I wonder if 10 years later this will still be as shut down as the 1985 today.

A very slight hint of brett on the nose here made it a little more difficult to get to the fruit and peppery elements on the nose here. The fruit here comes across as a little more black than red, but this is still a wine with a relatively softer structure that makes it a little more ready to go now. In fact, this seemed to be a little bit simplistic, and I now wonder if that judgment was made with respect to more than a few wines because they were too young. This would definitely be in that camp...

From half-bottle. Incredibly fun stuff, with lots and lots of spicy floral elements on the nose -- almond and elderflower being particularly interesting and prominent. The palate is very thick and sweet, with more of the spicy elements here. The acidity is relatively low, so this is balanced more on the back of the bitter notes on the finish here; somehow it all works out. Very delicious and unique stuff.