1974 Mayacamas Vineyards Cabernet Sauvignon Napa Mountain

Community Tasting Notes (61) Avg Score: 94.0 points

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  5/1/2024 - Cailles wrote: flawed

  23x California 1974: Do the legendary 1974s still hold up? The answer is a resounding YES, and not just for one or two top wines, but across the board. These best wines showed incredible complexity, with still vibrant fruit cores perfectly complemented by layers upon layers of tertiary aromas, a fully intact structural frame, stature, poise, and freshness. While many of these wines should continue to age well, I don't expect them to get any better than they are now. The top wines in the tasting were the Mondavi Cabernet and the Phelps Insignia (both 97pts), the Mondavi Reserve and the Mount Eden (both 96pts), and the Ridge Monte Bello (95pts). Many more wines scored in the 90-94 point range. I'm convinced that many wines would have scored even higher in a different tasting setting, where you can follow the wine over the course of an evening. Only 5 of the 24 bottles showed signs of weakness, with 1 of those already oxidized, but given the substance that could be tasted underneath, this is more likely due to weak corks or poor storage than anything nature delivered this year. All the wines had very good fill levels and had been quickly double decanted before tasting to remove the sediment.
  
  TN: This wine was marred by volatile acidity, rendering it undrinkable.

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  5/1/2024 - acyso wrote: 95 Points

  To Tony (La Grange Park, IL): This was, in contrast to the sterner, more structural 1970, a very heart-on-its-sleeve, easy-to-love bottle of cabernet. The fruit is opulent and plush, and there's still a good amount of fruit-driven sweetness here that is absolutely splendid. The profile is darker complexioned -- very little red fruit here, and there's an old-school Robert Parker richness here that I find just so easygoing and compelling. Very approachable and straight-up delicious, without the need to put in much thought, though that's not to say that this wine doesn't deserve thought.

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  2/2/2024 - G_H wrote: flawed

  A 1974 Napa Retrospective (Zunfthaus zur Waag Zürich): Out of magnum, unfortunately completely dead due to an issue with the bottle. What a shame.

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  12/3/2023 - JRockEsq Likes this wine: 88 Points

  Very good wine with nice red fruit but not a lot of complexity.

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  4/10/2022 - dream Likes this wine: 93 Points

  Fuller-bodied than I expected with a round and smooth mouthfeel and tasty flavors of smoky black fruits with a lick of violet spice. The finish is layered and concentrated but it just lacks the wow factor of some other bottles tonight. At Napa In The City.

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