Wednesday, October 30, 2019 - Special Wines with some SPECIAL Friends :) (Host's House): Decanted by the host after having been set upright for ≈1 wk
N: INITIAL funk but with notes of blood & earth underneath, ripe berries & definitely pyrazines (bell peppers?) also underneath; Over time, hints of bacon also emerg. The funk popped in & out with addt'l swirling/air, & was for me likely a +.
P: LM, poss Med, body; VERY *nice*, ALMOST swtish frt met by just a BIT of astringent pucker, though that bit IS initially (& but briefly) on the PUCKERISH side. The process stays within hailing distance of the init frt as it SEAMLESSLY evolves into a VERY LONG, BALANCED finish that is not at ALL "tired", & could EASILY accompany entrees. Consensus was that this SHOULD make its 50th without difficulty, & there was some speculation it will still be alive 'n kickin' ALL the way through the 2020s! [1 of the tasters had this previously, feeling his bottle was > swt & < "vegetal" than this one. The host later opined this bottle MAY have been somewhat < advanced, & that, in time, WOULD show > swtness.] Also, towards the very end there were multiple opinions that this bottle eventually showed a "mature", well integrated (unobjectionable) Brett on the N, which would explain the touch 'n go funkiness I described above. 12% ABV; My Exceptional-/Full Exceptional (96-100/100 using that metric). 92+ pts RJonWine, 92 John Gilman (4x, Sep/Oct '17 the most recent), & 19.5/20 Jancis Robinson (Hunt, 10/31/12), the highest scoring wine from that publication I've ever actually TASTED.
Comment posted by R2-D2:
11/1/2019 10:30:00 PM - The pre-1990 Mondavi Napa cabs have been very good to excellent over the years. Glad to see my birth year wine is still humming!
Comment posted by srh:
11/2/2019 10:20:00 AM - "Glad to see my birth year wine is still humming!" Yes, 'tis that... in SPADES! ;) Also, you might want to read the TN of 6/11/2019, the author of which was part of this tasting as well. [FYI, he may *never* have given a score like 98 here previously!]
Comment posted by R2-D2:
11/2/2019 10:53:00 AM - I did read that. It's tempting to open the wine. But I always envisioned the 74, the 78 (my wife's BY) and the 2000 (our wedding year) as part of our "yet to be built" cellar display. Still, quite tempting to open!