1969 Sterling Vineyards Cabernet Sauvignon Napa Valley

Community Tasting Notes (7) Avg Score: 90 points

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  9/29/2021 - noofie2 Likes this wine: 91 Points

  My last tasting note on this bottle of wine. This was the most satidfying :taste yet of the little wine that was left in the nitrogen preserved bottle. This time I swirled it vigorously to off gas any remsining off tastes and odors. Lo and behold...the wolderful old wine underneath finally fully revealed itself. Earth, tea leaves moss, delicate, soft, dusty fruit...a couple of swallows and its all gone...but enough to give it the rating it finally deserves. Amazing how old wines can sometimrs come around if you givr them the chance.

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  9/28/2021 - noofie2 Likes this wine: 89 Points

  Tasted the same wine as two days ago but from a nitrogen filled almost empty bottle. It took much less time to get up to 89pts...probably because the near empty bottle allowed the more unpleasant flavors to offgas into the nitrogen space before I poured it this time. Very earthy with some minerally. Dry and low on dusty red fruit. Definitely an older wine but quite respectible for its age and unknown provenance.

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  9/26/2021 - noofie2 Likes this wine: 89 Points

  Very interesting tasting experience. I bought this wine as part of an inexpensive auction lot of two cases of old mixed wines of varying vintages and grape varieties. I had no idea how the bottles had been stored. They were mostly dirty on the outside and covered in dust. This one is the first and only bottle I have opened so far. There are two or three other 1969 Sterling CS's in the lot with better labels and fill levels. I had no idea what to expect with this one. I tasted it with my wife immediately on opening it and was instantly disappointed. The wine was not oxidized or sherry like or excessively brown...but it did taste old, tired a bit watery with some bitter nuttiness. There was some fruit and alot of bitter earthiness but with no tannin left. The color was ruby with an almost inperceptibly slight touch of brown..but not enough that I would be concerned from the color alone. My first reaction was that it was still drinkable but just not very good. My first rating was probably around 83. So I let it sit for some time and focused on another CS I had opened. I went back to it at 30mins, an hour and 2-3hrs and noticed something quite interesting was happening. The excessive bitterness was slowly fading and the wine was becoming more interesting. The earthiness was still strong but was taking on more complexity...e.g. mushrooms and the smell I've experienced inside some very old cellars in Bordeaux. Finally the bitterness subsided to the point where the wine took on some bittersweet dark chocolate flavors, that were quite remarkable. Before I finished the glass I had raised my rating to 89pts which is pretty good for a wine of unknown provenance that's over 50years old!!!

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  11/16/2019 - margolism Likes this wine: 91 Points

  Very fortunate these wines were in great condition. Opened, decanted, rinsed bottle, and put back in bottle. Served after open for two hours. Nice, lighter body, lighter red fruit. Mellow but still extremely drinkable at 50 years old. Made for a great wine tasting experience to celebrate a milestone birthday.

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  10/14/2017 - rcwpag Likes this wine: 92 Points

  Although 48 years old and subject to 5 moves, this wine, which we decanted was light and had excellent touch to the pallet. Was enjoyed by all.
  There is light sediment in the bottle.

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