Opened and decanted and drank. Just a small taste for me as there were lots of folks around. I found this very enjoyable though. Good aged Napa. More secondary and tertiary. Fruit mostly faded. But the type of wine that makes you think more of the bordeaux style which I like.
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Diamond Creek Rare Wine Dinner (Charlie Palmer Steak): Curious nose of coffee grinds, rye and rye whiskey, and some new leathers. Not overly expressive. Fruit is damp and mature on the palate as well as a touch stewed. Tannins are very grippy. A good one to drink now.
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1978 Big Boys + friends (Riverpark, NYC): Served alongside a 1978 Diamond Creek and 1978 La Mission, it surprisingly bore more resemblance to the Bordeaux. Green, musty, and clunky, the table consensus was TCA--though I'm yet to meet a post-1980 Diamond Creek that's impressed me.
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1978s + others at Riverpark: Others thought this was corked. There certainly was something to that, as there's a dirty/funky edge here. But the funk always stayed in the background and didn't get any worse with air, which is unlike TCA in my experience. There's some still very primary cassis fruit framed by nice herbal/olivey/cedary notes, although the green here is nowhere near as prominent as the LMHB. But the structure is still out in force, as the tannins are drying and the acidity is extremely high, so high that as this is otherwise phenolically ripe I wonder if it was acidified. Better with steak, which cuts the structure some. I would say this still needs more time to resolve the structure, but does it have enough concentration to last long enough for that? Compared to, say the 85 Dunn HM (also a tannic, mountain cab), which also needs years and years more time, this is a lightweight.
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Bought on release in the Diamond Creek mixed case; cellared ever since. I must confess that at times I doubted the wine. But no more. It was an amazing wine and makes me nostalgic for the 80s style of California cabs. Double decanted an 1 1/2 before drinking. Drinking beautifully but there is no rush for well cellared bottles. Unfortunately my last bottle. Thank you, Al.
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Popped and poured two glasses. The rest was put in a decanter. Nice nose with hints of berry fruit, leather and a little cigar/tobacco. Slightly tart on the finish. Fruit has receeded a fair amount. Heading slightly downhill, but still very nice.
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Over the hill (and we like our reds old). Almost no fruit upon opening, peaked after about 30 mins. in decanter -- nice at peak, but still soft and not as complex as hoped. Fell off rapidly after that.
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We had this bottle with Dave at the Jamesport Manor.........showed beautifully especially considering that it had been overnighted from California 2 weeks prior. Please reference earlier note.
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Very elegant and classy wine. Long, rich, some exotic red fruit, tobacco leaf, drinking beautifully. A real beauty! (Had this out of magnum in March '09 that wasn't nearly as good, Dad's bottle).
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The 1985 Gravelly Meadow was so interesting: It evolved in the glass and actuallly gained weight over the 45-60-minutes that the bottle was open and the wine was poured into the glass. I didn't decant it.. and maybe I should have. I so loved this wine and could taste the soil and the tannins and the terroir of Gravely Meadow. It is amazing that this wine was over 20+ years old.
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12/7/2019 - MC2 Wines Likes this wine:
Opened and decanted and drank. Just a small taste for me as there were lots of folks around. I found this very enjoyable though. Good aged Napa. More secondary and tertiary. Fruit mostly faded. But the type of wine that makes you think more of the bordeaux style which I like.
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5/4/2016 - The Vines That Bind wrote: 90 Points
Diamond Creek Rare Wine Dinner (Charlie Palmer Steak): Curious nose of coffee grinds, rye and rye whiskey, and some new leathers. Not overly expressive. Fruit is damp and mature on the palate as well as a touch stewed. Tannins are very grippy. A good one to drink now.
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8/16/2014 - cooberp wrote: flawed
1978 Big Boys + friends (Riverpark, NYC): Served alongside a 1978 Diamond Creek and 1978 La Mission, it surprisingly bore more resemblance to the Bordeaux. Green, musty, and clunky, the table consensus was TCA--though I'm yet to meet a post-1980 Diamond Creek that's impressed me.
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8/4/2014 - coremill wrote: 87 Points
1978s + others at Riverpark: Others thought this was corked. There certainly was something to that, as there's a dirty/funky edge here. But the funk always stayed in the background and didn't get any worse with air, which is unlike TCA in my experience. There's some still very primary cassis fruit framed by nice herbal/olivey/cedary notes, although the green here is nowhere near as prominent as the LMHB. But the structure is still out in force, as the tannins are drying and the acidity is extremely high, so high that as this is otherwise phenolically ripe I wonder if it was acidified. Better with steak, which cuts the structure some. I would say this still needs more time to resolve the structure, but does it have enough concentration to last long enough for that? Compared to, say the 85 Dunn HM (also a tannic, mountain cab), which also needs years and years more time, this is a lightweight.
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7/19/2014 - senna22 Likes this wine:
Bought on release in the Diamond Creek mixed case; cellared ever since. I must confess that at times I doubted the wine. But no more. It was an amazing wine and makes me nostalgic for the 80s style of California cabs. Double decanted an 1 1/2 before drinking. Drinking beautifully but there is no rush for well cellared bottles. Unfortunately my last bottle. Thank you, Al.
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6/6/2013 - Evets63 Likes this wine: 90 Points
Decanted for over an hour and opened up nicely with very earthy tastes.
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4/25/2011 - thirstyman wrote:
Popped and poured two glasses. The rest was put in a decanter. Nice nose with hints of berry fruit, leather and a little cigar/tobacco. Slightly tart on the finish. Fruit has receeded a fair amount. Heading slightly downhill, but still very nice.
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4/24/2011 - peterk wrote: 60 Points
As the score suggests - avoid. Dead, dead, done.
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7/9/2010 - kmforster wrote:
Over the hill (and we like our reds old). Almost no fruit upon opening, peaked after about 30 mins. in decanter -- nice at peak, but still soft and not as complex as hoped. Fell off rapidly after that.
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8/22/2009 - M&D24 wrote:
We had this bottle with Dave at the Jamesport Manor.........showed beautifully especially considering that it had been overnighted from California 2 weeks prior.
Please reference earlier note.
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8/21/2009 - davergny wrote: 95 Points
Very elegant and classy wine. Long, rich, some exotic red fruit, tobacco leaf, drinking beautifully. A real beauty!
(Had this out of magnum in March '09 that wasn't nearly as good, Dad's bottle).
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12/28/2008 - Coastman3 wrote: 88 Points
Well aged and not oxidized, but it either never had great fruit or it has been lost. Overall, the wine was good quality but disappointing and short.
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12/26/2008 - Amerique wrote: 88 Points
Soft, well aged, medium bodied, cherry fruit, not particularly complex, disappointing showing
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8/11/2008 - Herb K wrote:
The 1985 Gravelly Meadow was so interesting: It evolved in the glass and actuallly gained weight over the 45-60-minutes that the bottle was open and the wine was poured into the glass. I didn't decant it.. and maybe I should have. I so loved this wine and could taste the soil and the tannins and the terroir of Gravely Meadow. It is amazing that this wine was over 20+ years old.
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