December 12, 2013 - 1978 California Cabernet Sauvignons (Tom's house in Palo Alto, California): Very dark color. Dense nose (B/B+). Average palate (B).
My #8, Group's #7 (104 pts). Tasted blind.
September 11, 2012 - 1978 California Cabernet horizontal (Il Corso.): This and the Estrella, which came from San Louis Obispo, clearly came from a different mold than the rest of the wines, with their almost hedonistic sweet black fruit, cocoa and seemingly minty American oak profiles. The wine is just bursting with ripe, bordering on roasted, blackberries, currants and black plums with just a little bit of black cherry in there adding a hint of red fruit. It's extracted with a lot of wood tannins showing on the back end, but there's enough fruit to handle it, though consuming some protein with it is also a good idea. With air it first got a bit harsh, but then eased up a bit. About three hours after being opened, a pleasant espresso note developed on the finish. It's not the most complex or complete wine, but it's thoroughly enjoyable and what's remarkable is that this was only the second release from the winery and the vines were only three years old! To be showing this well at age thirty-four is a remarkable feat. Solid B+.
May 28, 2010 - Crappy Old Wines (Nazca Peruvian Restaurant, San Jose): I continue to be impressed by this wine time and again. An unknown producer with no track record, an unnamed vineyard but over 30 years later it's still in great shape.
Plenty of smooth blackcurrant fruit, still some fine tannins, really good.
February 20, 2010 - Starts off with some old musty barrel flavors and aromas, but they blew off to reveal surprisingly youthful and decadent cassis and plummy fruit, with just a hint of cocoa, earth and herb in the background, but make no mistake about it, this is a fruit driven wine. While the fruit still has youth and vitality, the wine itself is nicely softened and has that wonderful aged smoothness that's just like buttah. Not so much a thinking wine, but it's a lot of fun and a surprising example of how good an old school California Cabernet can be and how well they can age. A-/B+.
May 17, 2008 - Took this to a "Cabs and Ribs" event hosted by Paul & Stef of Stefania Wine. Word got around as soon as it was opened and it disappeared faster than any other wine that night. I didn't even get to try it, but several people were telling me how good it was.
May 10, 2008 - Remarkable wine. You wouldn't believe it was 30 years old. Bags of blackberry/blackcurrant fruit. Didn't fade in the decanter. (Recommend that you decant for sediment immediately before serving).