"There's a lot of fish at Montrose Harbor" (Chicago, IL): This was another solid bottle of 1984 cabernet -- stylistically it's a bit lighter and a bit more green than the others, but overall the fruit profile here is brighter and lighter, and there is less of a tannic backbone here. Good acidity, with a mix of red and black fruit. Quite approachable now, this was probably the most ready of the four 1984s we had tonight.
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Medium dark garnet in color with minor clearing at the edges. Full, forward & fragrant nose of ripe fruit aromas of cherries, blackberries & plums with overtones of floral & earthy/dusty notes & classic cigar box notes of cedar & tobacco, leather, herbs, camphor, spices, minerals & a slight hint of vanilla/oak. Full bodied with very good concentration of well balanced & smooth textured, ripe fruit flavors of cherries, blackberries & black plums with herbs, spices, minerals & a hint of vanilla/oak. Long lingering smooth finish. Drinks quite well at present & at 40 years of age, it is at its peak of development. Although it may hold here for a few more years, I doubt any further development would occur with additional aging, so drink up. Fill was right at the juncture of the bottle neck and shoulder; cork was saturated but intact. A lovely Cabernet which when aged, drinks more like an aged Bordeaux.
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Just shy of 40, this bottle showed very nicely. The cork was cause for concern... almost fully saturated. Popped and poured.
The wine itself was no worse for wear but did show its age. A mature cab with notes of cherry, dead leaves and earth, black tea, and menthol. At this stage, I felt the acid outpaced the fruit on the palate.
A nice bottle worth drinking in the near term. Stood up for several weeks before opening; quite a bit of sediment in the last few ounces.
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Popped, breathed in bottle 60 minutes, consumed over next 90. Dark fruit in evidence right away and held its plateau through the night, but I didn't feel it improved. I would describe this as holding on rather than developing. Curiously devoid of tertiary notes that might be expected with age. Still, a nice experience with a mature Cab and surprisingly enjoyable considering the maligned vintage.
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Marin County Wine Group - Aged Cabernets 15 year min.; 10/24/2013-10/25/2013 (Mill Valley, Ca.): First taste from this producer it was the older of the two Formans in this flight. Slightly camphoric nose that carried ever so delecately into the palate. The most meaningful I can say about this wine is that it is still showing hints of its youth, but its on the downslope. A good wine none the less. well made
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Beautiful. Still a ruby tone without bricking. Decanted and drank over two hours. Had been worried as the cork was saturated. Slight meatiness and a touch of iron initially but the overwhelming note on the nose after a few moments was tart and full cherry, but also full of pepper and toasted spice. Medium to full bodied but not overblown, and a full 45 second finish.
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Still some life left. Decanted for about an hour. Bright brick color with slight brown tinge on the edge. Tart blackcherry with a medium finish. Caramel nose.
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Frustrating wine. Just enough to make you think you got something but not enough life left to overcome the acidity. Old School Bordeaux fans might enjoy it as a very Claret like wine with dinner but make the meal fatty to soak up the acidity. Gained a little bit of weight over an hour and revealed cedar and tobacco typical of Cab's with age but not much else. THe wine itself isn't over the hill but not much to wait for. Drink up......with food!
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Chicago Wine Geeks Dinner at Treat (Humboldt Park - Chicago, IL): Popped and poured after 15 minutes of air. This wine really evolved well for a couple of hours --- picking up weight, depth and complexity. Dark ruby in color with a full aroma profile of currant fruit, cedar, green herbs and mineral. A touch of VA initially blows off (though starts to reappear after 2+ hours) to reveal a giving and plush palate that had flamboyant, youthful fruit with interesting secondary characteristics. Palate featured melded tannins with black licorice, forest floor, cedar and graphite. Good finish. A fine and mature 22 year old wine. Bravo, Ric Forman!
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Wow, Robert Parker's review couldn't be more wrong. Still tons of flavor and vibrant. Beautifully balanced. A little green herb on the nose. 30 second finish.
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Still vibrant and primary with lots of black cherry flavors. Some interesting elements of cedar and leather starting to come through in the middle and the finish. Good acidity, good tannins, mostly well integrated. Moderate length.
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!984 Cabernet Sauvignon Tasting (Walnut Creek, Ca.): Nose of violet and lovely fruit, with green pepper, very tasty, sweet, briary fruit on the palate, lovely taste of herbal stems, very fresh and lively fruit on the palate, feminine, almost elegant, delicious, long finish.
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At home at dinner (pasta with tomato sauce). Very dark brooding ruby color. very viscous. Big oaky bouquet. Big and slightly raw tannins on the palate. More promise than present appeal. Loads of fruits waiting when the tannins abate. Great future. 5-10-17-8: 90/100
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With MPL and BLR at Singer & Foy survey of '84 cabs. Medium dark ruby. Attractive. Nose has decent fruit. Not great though. Medium depth. Palate had good flavor. Complex. Black and red fruits. Doing fine. Still has tannins to resolve. Good future. 5-10-17-8: 90/100
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Reddish purple color,red around the rim.Concentrated fruity aroma with touch of oak,almost jammy.Showing some tannin but really softened after 40min.Good complexity,even in youth.Long aftertst.
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With K at home at dinner (burgers). Ruby-purple. Bouquet a bit unfocused. Vinegar note. Smooth and velvety on the palate. Quite good, though I hope it will open a bit more. For now, it shows potential (except for the slight off-note in the nose). Tannic, but ripe and round. This bottle had seeped quite a bit. 5-5-16-6: 82/100.
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In my Beaumont hotel room. Rich red ruby. Fruit and oak aromas jump from the glass. Very rich, full palate impression. Lots of fruit and oak with balancing tannins. Nice, but better later. 5-10-15-8: 88/100
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4/2/2024 - acyso wrote: 93 Points
"There's a lot of fish at Montrose Harbor" (Chicago, IL): This was another solid bottle of 1984 cabernet -- stylistically it's a bit lighter and a bit more green than the others, but overall the fruit profile here is brighter and lighter, and there is less of a tannic backbone here. Good acidity, with a mix of red and black fruit. Quite approachable now, this was probably the most ready of the four 1984s we had tonight.
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3/2/2024 - Vinnut Likes this wine: 93 Points
Medium dark garnet in color with minor clearing at the edges. Full, forward & fragrant nose of ripe fruit aromas of cherries, blackberries & plums with overtones of floral & earthy/dusty notes & classic cigar box notes of cedar & tobacco, leather, herbs, camphor, spices, minerals & a slight hint of vanilla/oak. Full bodied with very good concentration of well balanced & smooth textured, ripe fruit flavors of cherries, blackberries & black plums with herbs, spices, minerals & a hint of vanilla/oak. Long lingering smooth finish. Drinks quite well at present & at 40 years of age, it is at its peak of development. Although it may hold here for a few more years, I doubt any further development would occur with additional aging, so drink up. Fill was right at the juncture of the bottle neck and shoulder; cork was saturated but intact. A lovely Cabernet which when aged, drinks more like an aged Bordeaux.
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2/17/2023 - ekorn Likes this wine:
Just shy of 40, this bottle showed very nicely. The cork was cause for concern... almost fully saturated. Popped and poured.
The wine itself was no worse for wear but did show its age. A mature cab with notes of cherry, dead leaves and earth, black tea, and menthol. At this stage, I felt the acid outpaced the fruit on the palate.
A nice bottle worth drinking in the near term. Stood up for several weeks before opening; quite a bit of sediment in the last few ounces.
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4/3/2022 - Nanda wrote: flawed
stewy
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2/20/2021 - Nanda wrote: flawed
Seemingly heat damaged
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6/28/2020 - Burgundy Al wrote: 89 Points
In vertical. Ripe and certainly mature with good weight, but time to drink up.
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10/25/2013 - rsbeck wrote: 90 Points
Popped, breathed in bottle 60 minutes, consumed over next 90. Dark fruit in evidence right away and held its plateau through the night, but I didn't feel it improved. I would describe this as holding on rather than developing. Curiously devoid of tertiary notes that might be expected with age. Still, a nice experience with a mature Cab and surprisingly enjoyable considering the maligned vintage.
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10/25/2013 - dave smigielski wrote:
Marin County Wine Group - Aged Cabernets 15 year min.; 10/24/2013-10/25/2013 (Mill Valley, Ca.): First taste from this producer it was the older of the two Formans in this flight. Slightly camphoric nose that carried ever so delecately into the palate. The most meaningful I can say about this wine is that it is still showing hints of its youth, but its on the downslope. A good wine none the less. well made
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10/7/2013 - doctornoah wrote: 92 Points
Beautiful. Still a ruby tone without bricking. Decanted and drank over two hours. Had been worried as the cork was saturated. Slight meatiness and a touch of iron initially but the overwhelming note on the nose after a few moments was tart and full cherry, but also full of pepper and toasted spice. Medium to full bodied but not overblown, and a full 45 second finish.
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2/23/2011 - AlexHop wrote:
Was nice although showing its age. I don't remember enough details to give it a score.
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9/11/2009 - Paco wrote: 89 Points
Still some life left. Decanted for about an hour. Bright brick color with slight brown tinge on the edge. Tart blackcherry with a medium finish. Caramel nose.
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9/4/2007 - WetRock wrote:
Frustrating wine. Just enough to make you think you got something but not enough life left to overcome the acidity. Old School Bordeaux fans might enjoy it as a very Claret like wine with dinner but make the meal fatty to soak up the acidity. Gained a little bit of weight over an hour and revealed cedar and tobacco typical of Cab's with age but not much else. THe wine itself isn't over the hill but not much to wait for. Drink up......with food!
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9/6/2006 - Nanda wrote: 93 Points
Chicago Wine Geeks Dinner at Treat (Humboldt Park - Chicago, IL): Popped and poured after 15 minutes of air. This wine really evolved well for a couple of hours --- picking up weight, depth and complexity. Dark ruby in color with a full aroma profile of currant fruit, cedar, green herbs and mineral. A touch of VA initially blows off (though starts to reappear after 2+ hours) to reveal a giving and plush palate that had flamboyant, youthful fruit with interesting secondary characteristics. Palate featured melded tannins with black licorice, forest floor, cedar and graphite. Good finish. A fine and mature 22 year old wine. Bravo, Ric Forman!
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6/11/2004 - AlexHop wrote: 94 Points
Wow, Robert Parker's review couldn't be more wrong. Still tons of flavor and vibrant. Beautifully balanced. A little green herb on the nose. 30 second finish.
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2/20/2003 - Burgundy Al wrote: 89 Points
Still vibrant and primary with lots of black cherry flavors. Some interesting elements of cedar and leather starting to come through in the middle and the finish. Good acidity, good tannins, mostly well integrated. Moderate length.
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7/28/1997 - bestdamncab Likes this wine: 93 Points
!984 Cabernet Sauvignon Tasting (Walnut Creek, Ca.): Nose of violet and lovely fruit, with green pepper, very tasty, sweet, briary fruit on the palate, lovely taste of herbal stems, very fresh and lively fruit on the palate, feminine, almost elegant, delicious, long finish.
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9/26/1991 - MicklethePickle Likes this wine: 90 Points
At home at dinner (pasta with tomato sauce). Very dark brooding ruby color. very viscous. Big oaky bouquet. Big and slightly raw tannins on the palate. More promise than present appeal. Loads of fruits waiting when the tannins abate. Great future. 5-10-17-8: 90/100
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5/31/1991 - MicklethePickle Likes this wine: 90 Points
With MPL and BLR at Singer & Foy survey of '84 cabs. Medium dark ruby. Attractive. Nose has decent fruit. Not great though. Medium depth. Palate had good flavor. Complex. Black and red fruits. Doing fine. Still has tannins to resolve. Good future. 5-10-17-8: 90/100
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12/30/1990 - buckeye76 wrote: 91 Points
Reddish purple color,red around the rim.Concentrated fruity aroma with touch of oak,almost jammy.Showing some tannin but really softened after 40min.Good complexity,even in youth.Long aftertst.
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7/18/1989 - MicklethePickle Likes this wine: 82 Points
With K at home at dinner (burgers). Ruby-purple. Bouquet a bit unfocused. Vinegar note. Smooth and velvety on the palate. Quite good, though I hope it will open a bit more. For now, it shows potential (except for the slight off-note in the nose). Tannic, but ripe and round. This bottle had seeped quite a bit. 5-5-16-6: 82/100.
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3/6/1989 - MicklethePickle Likes this wine: 88 Points
In my Beaumont hotel room. Rich red ruby. Fruit and oak aromas jump from the glass. Very rich, full palate impression. Lots of fruit and oak with balancing tannins. Nice, but better later. 5-10-15-8: 88/100
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