May 13, 2022 - Surprising, considering the age, this took 30+ minutes to open up. A little austere, but well balanced dark berries & black cherry, sandalwood and touches of tobacco. Faint tannins and medium finish.
October 24, 2020 - Supple and silk smooth. Good fruit; tannins virtually gone.
September 25, 2020 - Drink side by side with 1995 and 1996. Some crumbled corks among the 3, but all were drinking great. The order of enjoyment varied a bit; some preferred the 1995 and some the 1997 as the best of the group.
November 28, 2019 - Cork crumbled. Still good. A bit dry. Followed it up with a Silver Oak 2007 Cabernet which was excellent.
April 13, 2019 - Did get the cork out in one piece, sort of. It was tearing apart as I pulled it out, but stayed in one piece and didn't crumble. Creap well past halfway up. The wine was the best bottle I've has, so far, with red and black berries, cherry quickly giving way to dried tobacco, stone, and a whisper of herbs de provence. It improved over the next hour, with soft tannins and a medium finish.
November 1, 2018 - As good a CA cab as I have enjoyed, and sadly, the last of my '97s. Cork came out perfectly with The Durand corkscrew. Decanted at the restaurant, loads of fruit/cedar, graphite, and a little leather on the nose, enticing one to spend more time sniffing than drinking. Beyond expectations on the palate: simply velvet with a medium/long finish.
February 19, 2017 - Probably the first of these old Burgess Cabs with a PERFECT cork. Notes mirror my notes of 7/6/16. Only 1 left in the cellar
September 17, 2016 - Same notes as those of 7/6/1016. Terrible crumbling cork (even with Ah-So extractor), but outstanding wine. Tasted blind with other older wines, including a '96 Mount Veeder Cab, which was pretty similar. I am probably down to 2 of these.
July 6, 2016 - As usual, a crumbling dry cork but with wine up to capsule, so no loss of wine. Had to decant to filter out cork scraps, then returned to bottle for consumption. Delightful nose of graphite/cedar/floral/light cherry. Silken on the palate with dark fruits, unlike the nose, but very enjoyable with a medium to long finish. Glad to have 3 more.
June 20, 2016 - My last bottle and the best one. Got lucky and got the cork out in one piece. These wines have suffered from faulty corks. I had a 50/50 success rate on a case but when it's good, it's good! 2-3 more years of life left, but no reason at all to wait.