December 30, 2022 - Fully mature as expected but fruit is still lively and interesting, along with notes of tobacco, red plum, with a mild herbaceous streak, mid weight palate and medium length finish. More than "holding on", this bottle improved over the course of 2 hours, not decanted.
1/4 bottle left accidentally in the fridge sampled almost 10 days later.. the wine was still captivating, balanced, fresh, and showing zero signs of oxidation, if a bit less lively than the first day. A "wow" bottle for certain.
December 11, 2021 - Enjoyed from an actively seeping bottle (I recently moved my wine cellar and this may have caused it)… sweet, slightly mulled nose of dried cherries, lemon zest, cinnamon, oaky vanilla, and cooling minty-cab notes. Beautiful bouquet. The palate is bright and tangy with a lemony taste, and shows a savory side on the finish. Smooth, utterly resolved, still vigorous. A joy.
June 9, 2020 - Very good, and a true joy to experience at this stage. A blend of 95% Cabernet Sauvignon, with Merlot from Napa, with an alcohol of 13,9%. This was double-decanted about 2 hours prior to service - no extended aeration. The color shows some age, but certainly not 40 years of it. The nose is majority tertiary, but a narrow core still clings to the secondary realm. Elegant, long, filled with finesse, and a good sense of place/grape. Based on this showing, there's another 5-7 years at/near this level. Pretty much everything one could want in 40 year old Napa Cab. Bravo, sir Paul! highly recommended
December 23, 2019 - Wow. Bottle was corked making flavor past peak yet still wonderful. Going orange at meniscus nose is rich cherry and currant Lovely cherry, light tobacco, cedar? touch herbaceous, light tannin that falls away, light alcohol, light acid, full bodied and soft mouthfeel. Just really really delicious and lucky to have had opportunity to drink.
January 15, 2018 - A wow wine. Smoky cedar, leather and graphite nose with a depth of fruit that is frankly astounding for a 40 year old wine.
October 29, 2016 - Was simply amazing. Still very alive.
October 25, 2016 - 1978 California with John Gilman (Craft): True elegance. Paired with food, the acidity really shone through. 1978 Cali Cab Tasting
February 7, 2016 - Began with some tired, oxidative tones but freshens up to show cola, dried currant, cedar, over a fleshy and silky palate. After 6 hours there's ample sweet fruit, some smoky gravelly tobacco notes, attractive green streak, pleasant acidity, I wish we hadn't drunk this up so quickly. Mmm mmm old school Cali.
March 9, 2015 - Surprising bottle that more resembled a Bordeaux more than a Cal Cab. Decanted with slight sediment and showed dark fruit nose with no trace of leather/weedy aspects some reviewers mentioned. Over the next hour in the glass it continued to open and develop. Medium full body, lots of fruit in nose and any oak properly integrated with the fruit in a harmonious manner that was a delight to return to every few minutes. In the mouth it was round, firm, balanced with largely resolved tannins and a long lovely finish.
At about an hour and a half it started to thin out and show its age. But I had expected it to be like this when first opened, what a joy!
Could possibly hold up another decade in a good cellar just on its balance.
This bottle was a gift from a friend about 30 years ago.
March 1, 2014 - I'm a big fan of Ridge wines and I really like the detailed labels, even if I find the drinking windows a little conservative. In this case, Paul Draper was really conservative ! In April 1980, he wrote "The result is an elegant wine that should show well within a year or two, but gain in complexity with three years of bottle age". After more than thirty years, it's still an elegant wine with considerable complexity !
Dark red in color with no browning on the edges. Reticent nose of earth and tobacco. Very smooth on the palate, with tannins fully resolved and red fruits still evident but fading. Lengthy finish.
Given the label notes, I thought we'd be opening the back up bottle immediately. We eventually did, but only after we finished and thoroughly enjoyed this wine.