Community Tasting Notes 13

• Cailles wrote: 92 points

  February 5, 2023 - 30x California 1978: So many wines from this great Californian vintage at the age of 45 certainly qualifies as a “once in a lifetime” event. A few observations: 1) The quality was very high (almost all my ratings above 90pts). And only four faulty wines (2x corked, 2x over the hill/flawed, sadly those two were the Ridge Monte Bello and the Phelps Insignia). 2) The wines are ready to drink, the tannins have melted but the tension and freshness remain high - across the board. 3) There is still lots of fruit left and I was surprised how most wines didn’t show lots of tertiary aromas (find me the Bdx 1982 without tertiary aromas!). IMO, more than a handful of the wines could continue to improve for a few years. 4) Style wise, these are obviously quite different from today’s Napa wines with much less ripeness and more mineral accents. But hardly any wine we had would be mistaken for a Bordeaux in a blind tasting (unlike 80s/90s Dominus). 5) Best reds: Inglenook Limited Cask, Beaulieu GDL Reserve, Stags Leap Cask 23 4.5l (all 96pts), Heitz Bella Oaks, Simi Reserve, Stag’s Leap Cask 23 0.75l (all 95pts). The best wine overall, however, was the magical Late Harvest Riesling from Phelps (98pts).
  
  TN: Intense, expressive nose but not as well defined as many others tonight. Dark fruit and minerality at the core. On the palate the same picture. Fine, round, very classic and mineral driven, probably the most mineral driven wine in this tasting, with muscular structure. Very clean, but not as complex as many others and missing a touch of softness and a bit of sweetness missing for the perfect balance.

  1 person found this helpful Comment

• G_H wrote: 89 points

  January 28, 2023 - 1978 California Cabernet Horizontal: Slightly porty with some dark berries, fresher in the palate with a nice supporting acidity. Still enjoyable to drink.

  Comment

• sirpat00 wrote: 88 points

  January 28, 2023 - California 1978 (Zunfthaus zur Waag, Zurich): Grand tasting of 1978 California wines, mostly from Napa. Main takeaways: i/ surprisingly high quality on average for wines that were not intended for such long-term aging with plenty of primary fruit left, ii/ but within the detail nonetheless a broad range with the worst few suffering from clear signs of fatigue while the best showed hardly age, iii/ top wines were Phelps Cab Sauv (97), Firestone Cab Sauv (95), and Beaulieu George de Latour Private Reserve (95). Full list sorted by score included in the tasting story.
  
  Tasting note:
  Limited expression and rather low intensity here. Ripe, borderline candid fruit of dark berries with tertiary notes and a bit of Asian spice mushed into the mix, but lacking definition and direction. The palate did add a nice tobacco feature, but the structure has disappeared leaving only acidity.

  Comment

• ESTEELE90 Likes this wine:

  April 28, 2018 - Generously opened by Eric at Epicurus Gourmet. Splash decanted. Color is that of aged balsamic vinegar. Nose is alive and well showing prune, soft baking spice, cedar, and hot earth. Palate is completely different than the nose and opens beautifully with just 10 minutes of air showing a strong core of graphite and iron wrapped in palate staining oil-cured black olives, faint sweet red cherries, and soft cinnamon and allspice. Midpalate gains weight quickly and holds up the framework of fruit and earth in perfect balance. Acidity is appetite whetting and the tannins are fine grained yet give this a nice hit of dryness on the long and savory finish. A treat to try and a beautiful expression of old school Napa.

  1 person found this helpful Comment

• Burgnick Likes this wine: 92 points

  February 26, 2018 - Bottle was purchased on release. A very good mature napa that is drinking much younger than its true age. Nose is bordeaux like with some black fruit, cedarwood, tobacco, leather, green pepper and earth. Palate has good intensity with that sweet napa ripeness. Drinking at peak but likely to stay at the plateau for at least 10 years. Unlikely to improve from here.

  Comment

Pro Reviews 0

• No pro reviews found.

Wine Definition

• Vintage 1978
• Type Red
• Producer Duckhorn Vineyards
• Varietal Cabernet Sauvignon
• Designation n/a
• Vineyard n/a
• Country USA
• Region California
• SubRegion Napa Valley
• Appellation Napa Valley

Community Holdings

• Pending Delivery 0 (0%)
• In Cellars 42 (61%)
• Consumed 27 (39%)

Food Pairing

Who Likes This Wine

More About This Wine