October 31, 2018 - Auction purchase (Winebid). Loose cork completely soaked and oxdiizing the capsule. Nose a bit of a concern on the pnp--a bid port- like, a bit oxidized, but this came around. Freakishly dark color for the age. I expected this to be full of sediment despite standing up 3-4 months. Sediment was very fine and mostly passed through the filter, however. A bit green at first. Ultra-mature, almost red-lining "past drink", but a bit of air brings out some red fruit to balance the mature elements. Aged Bordeaux profile. Intrigued to try this under a better seal, but not worth the auction risk.
October 25, 2018 - Sourced again through WineBid, but had to pony up a little more this time. The good news, it was still alive with plenty of fruit left. Even a member of our group who dislikes really old Napa cabs, thought it was great. Classic old church smells with cedar and tobacco, but still sweet tannins. Based on how the 78' tasted earlier this year (tannic and less fruit), it's interesting to notice the vibrant fruit in a warmer vintage such as 77'. This wine was not as textured as the last bottle, nor was the notable molasses flavor apparent as I remember. Therefore, it might be bottle variation or storage history that made this experience a little different. Either way, the overall representation of this wine was similar and enjoyable. We visited SM this last month and I was able to secure a 1979 mag. It will be interesting to see how that compares with this one.
October 22, 2017 - Almost syrup-like weight and above normal dark color profile for a forty year wine. The nose was nothing more than typical aged cali-cab, and before the first sip I assumed this would be dead. To my surprise, the fruit was still very much alive with tons of molasses, cedar, tobacco, cocoa, and nutmeg. More on the dark fruit side versus ecalyptus and mineral. I would have guessed valley floor over mountain fruit if I had tasted blind. I scored this for $70 on winebid. Whoever had originally stored this wine, thank you. Our group couldn't stop discussing it all night.
May 10, 2012 - loved this wine, nose was red fruit and light and airy... palate was red fruit too and tho not quite a 40 year old hermitage it was leaning in that direction... really like the fruit profile after 35 years and also some secondary (more spice than earth) components... lovely for the $55 i paid, and easily beat out the '75 and '76 Mount Veeder cabs we had alongside
April 3, 2012 - 1977 California Cabernet horizontal. (Il Corso.): The nose is a little muddled and didn't offer much other than red fruit and cedar. On the palate, though, the fruit is focused and shows delightful purity and freshness. Red cherries that, while sweet, show a nice tart edge to them, with cedary oak, earth and tobacco. With air a strong coffee grounds character rose up. Maybe a touch fragile and with the oak sticking out a touch more than it should on the finish, but this is lovely, though it's time to drink up. Low A-.