Got together last night for a potluck dinner and tasting of some 1978
California Cabernets.

1995 Charles Heidsieck Brut Blanc de Blancs - smooth entry, soft in
the middle with lower acid than many, very tasty and with good
length. Delightful wine.

With various pupus including mushroom tarts, quails eggs, sliced
seared Ahi....

2005 Benton Lane Pinot Gris (Oregon) - nice to see a screwcap wine
from this area. Showing some light colour, good fruit on palate, nice
fruit based nose, bit hard to nail down, and excellent balance.

With seafood medley

1978 Villa Mount Eden Cabernet Reserve - brought this out to accompany
a mushroom Napoleon (great freshly made puff pastry) and held it over
for the other 5 1978s. Only slight orange at the edges, the colour
paler than in year's past, but still nice medium ruby. Good varietal
cab nose with obvious maturity, tons of flavour in the mouth but very
little tannin, Ready and delightful, my second best wine of the
flight. Made by Nils Venge, who had also done the late 1960s,
particularly the memorable 1968 Heitz Martha's Vineyard. Anyone know
where he got to later on?

With rotisserie BBQ lamb and fingerling potatoes:

1978 Conn Creek Cab - heavier nose than the Mt Eden and a definite
mint component, and even less tannin, juicy end as a result of good
acidity - quite a tasty wine.

1978 Stags Leap Cellars Lot 2 - a caramel custard nose, then lovely
sweet fruit in the middle and a soft lower acid finish ending sweetly.
The most mature of the first three wines.

1978 Chappellet - the nose seemed ever so slightly musty for a minute
and the level of fruit was considerably lower here. The wine was a bit
hollow, and although it was the most Bordeaux like, I think it was
just showing age and was sliding/had slid over the top of the
proverbial hill.

1978 Caymus - this predates Special Selection, so whatever fruit they
had went into this wine. Dill and eucalyptus nose showing faint tannin
and more acidity, but the fruit was also lower. We divided a bit on
this one, with me judging it to have slid like the Chappellet and
others thinking it just back from the brink and still pleasurable.
Let's compromise and say it was a weak showing and age is affecting
the wine.

1978 Duckhorn - this was one of the top two (with the Mt. Eden) of the
night and was the youngest seeming wine. Great fruit in nose and
palate, juicy and long, this will last quiet a few years yet.

With cheese:

1977 Monterey Peninsula Winery Amador Zinfandel Ferrero Ranch - I used
to make a point of stopping at this winery when I went to Monterey to
race old cars at Laguna Seca in the early 80s - does anyone know where
they went to? They always had some idiosyncratic but interesting
wines and these old style Zins are among my favourites. The crop in
this drought year was only 25% or normal and this wine was intensely
tannic when young, but had some interesting elements that I thought
might eventually pay off. Opening it 27 years later, it showed a
slightly warm nose, deep dark fruit nose, big body and it still has
some of the tannin I remember but it is now drinkable and worked
fairly well with the cheeses.

I also pulled out another wine I had picked up on the way home from
the races:

1978 Ch. St. Jean Alexander Valley Johannesburg Riesling IDBS
(Individuall dried bunch selected). - this was their TBA, a wine
picked at super high sugar levels and fermented to 8.3% alcohol, at
which point there was still 28.2% residual sugar! It is now an almost
opaque brown colour, but there is no hint of maderisation, rather you
get honey with a hint of dill in the nose, and the wine is nectar,
hard to describe, with the acidity to still make it lively and
interesting. This was a particularly good bottle, and it vies with any
sweet wine made in North America. The Canadian Ice Wines are inept
jokes compared to this. A very classy wine made by Dick Arrowwood
before he left St. Jean to found his own winery.

On Apr 22, 12:07 pm, "Bill S." wrote:

1977 Monterey Peninsula Winery Amador Zinfandel Ferrero Ranch - I used
to make a point of stopping at this winery when I went to Monterey to
race old cars at Laguna Seca in the early 80s - does anyone know where
they went to? They always had some idiosyncratic but interesting
wines and these old style Zins are among my favourites. The crop in
this drought year was only 25% or normal and this wine was intensely
tannic when young, but had some interesting elements that I thought
might eventually pay off. Opening it 27 years later, it showed a
slightly warm nose, deep dark fruit nose, big body and it still has
some of the tannin I remember but it is now drinkable and worked
fairly well with the cheeses.

I have had a few 1970s wines from Monterey Peninsula Winery. For the
most part, their Cabernet Sauvignon and Zinfandel were huge wines,
even by the standards of the excesses of the 1970s. One usually
wondered if they would have any fruit after the tannins reduced in
intensity, if they ever did. I kept a few bottles, and most finally
came around. I still have a bottle of their 1976 Cabernet Sauvignon
and their 1976 Ferrero Ranch Late Harvest Zinfandel. The Zinfandel is
a rather dryish version rather than a sweet one. If I remember
correctly, this winery was owned by dentists, but I may have this
mixed up with another winery. When young, their wines stained your
teeth so much that drinking them often would result in many more
dentist visits for cleaning your teeth.

I also pulled out another wine I had picked up on the way home from
the races:

1978 Ch. St. Jean Alexander Valley Johannesburg Riesling IDBS
(Individuall dried bunch selected). - this was their TBA, a wine
picked at super high sugar levels and fermented to 8.3% alcohol, at
which point there was still 28.2% residual sugar! It is now an almost
opaque brown colour, but there is no hint of maderisation, rather you
get honey with a hint of dill in the nose, and the wine is nectar,
hard to describe, with the acidity to still make it lively and
interesting. This was a particularly good bottle, and it vies with any
sweet wine made in North America. The Canadian Ice Wines are inept
jokes compared to this. A very classy wine made by Dick Arrowwood
before he left St. Jean to found his own winery.

I still have several half bottles of the same Riesling if your wine
came from the Belle Terre Vineyard. It is still holding very well.
There were several very good wines of this style made. The Joseph
Phelps Select Late Harvest 1978 contains 30% residual sugar and is
still holding very well. The Freemark Abbey Edelwein 1973 is fading,
but still drinkable. The Freemark Abbey Edelwein Gold 1976 was much
better, of near TBA richness, and is still outstanding. With few
exceptions, I tasted very few dry Rieslings from California in the
1970s that were even of average quality. However a few of these ultra
rich late harvest wines were of very high quality and could compete
with many such wines from Germany, although I would not go so far as
to say they gave Egon Muller's late harvest Scharzhofbergers serious
competition.

However I have a single bottle of what must be one of the most freak
wines from California. It is Edmeades Vineyard Anderson Valley Ice
Wine Colombard 1977 at 16% residual sugar. I have no idea of how it
tastes. I found this single bottle at auction many years ago, it did
not cost too much, and I could not resist buying it because it was
such a freak.

Bill, somewhere around the late 1980's early 90's these wines seemed to have
changed and I do wonder if more current releases will last as long. I think
the change was the method of "so called filtering of unfiltered wines"

"Bill S." wrote in message
oups.com...
Got together last night for a potluck dinner and tasting of some 1978
California Cabernets.

1995 Charles Heidsieck Brut Blanc de Blancs - smooth entry, soft in
the middle with lower acid than many, very tasty and with good
length. Delightful wine.

With various pupus including mushroom tarts, quails eggs, sliced
seared Ahi....

2005 Benton Lane Pinot Gris (Oregon) - nice to see a screwcap wine
from this area. Showing some light colour, good fruit on palate, nice
fruit based nose, bit hard to nail down, and excellent balance.

With seafood medley

1978 Villa Mount Eden Cabernet Reserve - brought this out to accompany
a mushroom Napoleon (great freshly made puff pastry) and held it over
for the other 5 1978s. Only slight orange at the edges, the colour
paler than in year's past, but still nice medium ruby. Good varietal
cab nose with obvious maturity, tons of flavour in the mouth but very
little tannin, Ready and delightful, my second best wine of the
flight. Made by Nils Venge, who had also done the late 1960s,
particularly the memorable 1968 Heitz Martha's Vineyard. Anyone know
where he got to later on?

With rotisserie BBQ lamb and fingerling potatoes:

1978 Conn Creek Cab - heavier nose than the Mt Eden and a definite
mint component, and even less tannin, juicy end as a result of good
acidity - quite a tasty wine.

1978 Stags Leap Cellars Lot 2 - a caramel custard nose, then lovely
sweet fruit in the middle and a soft lower acid finish ending sweetly.
The most mature of the first three wines.

1978 Chappellet - the nose seemed ever so slightly musty for a minute
and the level of fruit was considerably lower here. The wine was a bit
hollow, and although it was the most Bordeaux like, I think it was
just showing age and was sliding/had slid over the top of the
proverbial hill.

1978 Caymus - this predates Special Selection, so whatever fruit they
had went into this wine. Dill and eucalyptus nose showing faint tannin
and more acidity, but the fruit was also lower. We divided a bit on
this one, with me judging it to have slid like the Chappellet and
others thinking it just back from the brink and still pleasurable.
Let's compromise and say it was a weak showing and age is affecting
the wine.

1978 Duckhorn - this was one of the top two (with the Mt. Eden) of the
night and was the youngest seeming wine. Great fruit in nose and
palate, juicy and long, this will last quiet a few years yet.

With cheese:

1977 Monterey Peninsula Winery Amador Zinfandel Ferrero Ranch - I used
to make a point of stopping at this winery when I went to Monterey to
race old cars at Laguna Seca in the early 80s - does anyone know where
they went to? They always had some idiosyncratic but interesting
wines and these old style Zins are among my favourites. The crop in
this drought year was only 25% or normal and this wine was intensely
tannic when young, but had some interesting elements that I thought
might eventually pay off. Opening it 27 years later, it showed a
slightly warm nose, deep dark fruit nose, big body and it still has
some of the tannin I remember but it is now drinkable and worked
fairly well with the cheeses.

I also pulled out another wine I had picked up on the way home from
the races:

1978 Ch. St. Jean Alexander Valley Johannesburg Riesling IDBS
(Individuall dried bunch selected). - this was their TBA, a wine
picked at super high sugar levels and fermented to 8.3% alcohol, at
which point there was still 28.2% residual sugar! It is now an almost
opaque brown colour, but there is no hint of maderisation, rather you
get honey with a hint of dill in the nose, and the wine is nectar,
hard to describe, with the acidity to still make it lively and
interesting. This was a particularly good bottle, and it vies with any
sweet wine made in North America. The Canadian Ice Wines are inept
jokes compared to this. A very classy wine made by Dick Arrowwood
before he left St. Jean to found his own winery.

In article .com,
says...
[SNIP some interesting notes]

Bill,

Thanks for the TNs. I only have a few '78s left and most are Bdx. With few
exceptions, my Cal wines pretty much start at '85. All things considered, it
sounds like you had some enjoyable wines, with a few minor exceptions.

Wish that I'd been there... !

Hunt

In article .com,
"Bill S." wrote:

Got together last night for a potluck dinner and tasting of some 1978
California Cabernets.

1995 Charles Heidsieck Brut Blanc de Blancs - smooth entry, soft in
the middle with lower acid than many, very tasty and with good
length. Delightful wine.

With various pupus including mushroom tarts, quails eggs, sliced
seared Ahi....

2005 Benton Lane Pinot Gris (Oregon) - nice to see a screwcap wine
from this area. Showing some light colour, good fruit on palate, nice
fruit based nose, bit hard to nail down, and excellent balance.

With seafood medley

1978 Villa Mount Eden Cabernet Reserve - brought this out to accompany
a mushroom Napoleon (great freshly made puff pastry) and held it over
for the other 5 1978s. Only slight orange at the edges, the colour
paler than in year's past, but still nice medium ruby. Good varietal
cab nose with obvious maturity, tons of flavour in the mouth but very
little tannin, Ready and delightful, my second best wine of the
flight. Made by Nils Venge, who had also done the late 1960s,
particularly the memorable 1968 Heitz Martha's Vineyard. Anyone know
where he got to later on?

With rotisserie BBQ lamb and fingerling potatoes:

1978 Conn Creek Cab - heavier nose than the Mt Eden and a definite
mint component, and even less tannin, juicy end as a result of good
acidity - quite a tasty wine.

1978 Stags Leap Cellars Lot 2 - a caramel custard nose, then lovely
sweet fruit in the middle and a soft lower acid finish ending sweetly.
The most mature of the first three wines.

1978 Chappellet - the nose seemed ever so slightly musty for a minute
and the level of fruit was considerably lower here. The wine was a bit
hollow, and although it was the most Bordeaux like, I think it was
just showing age and was sliding/had slid over the top of the
proverbial hill.

1978 Caymus - this predates Special Selection, so whatever fruit they
had went into this wine. Dill and eucalyptus nose showing faint tannin
and more acidity, but the fruit was also lower. We divided a bit on
this one, with me judging it to have slid like the Chappellet and
others thinking it just back from the brink and still pleasurable.
Let's compromise and say it was a weak showing and age is affecting
the wine.

1978 Duckhorn - this was one of the top two (with the Mt. Eden) of the
night and was the youngest seeming wine. Great fruit in nose and
palate, juicy and long, this will last quiet a few years yet.

With cheese:

1977 Monterey Peninsula Winery Amador Zinfandel Ferrero Ranch - I used
to make a point of stopping at this winery when I went to Monterey to
race old cars at Laguna Seca in the early 80s - does anyone know where
they went to? They always had some idiosyncratic but interesting
wines and these old style Zins are among my favourites. The crop in
this drought year was only 25% or normal and this wine was intensely
tannic when young, but had some interesting elements that I thought
might eventually pay off. Opening it 27 years later, it showed a
slightly warm nose, deep dark fruit nose, big body and it still has
some of the tannin I remember but it is now drinkable and worked
fairly well with the cheeses.

I also pulled out another wine I had picked up on the way home from
the races:

1978 Ch. St. Jean Alexander Valley Johannesburg Riesling IDBS
(Individuall dried bunch selected). - this was their TBA, a wine
picked at super high sugar levels and fermented to 8.3% alcohol, at
which point there was still 28.2% residual sugar! It is now an almost
opaque brown colour, but there is no hint of maderisation, rather you
get honey with a hint of dill in the nose, and the wine is nectar,
hard to describe, with the acidity to still make it lively and
interesting. This was a particularly good bottle, and it vies with any
sweet wine made in North America. The Canadian Ice Wines are inept
jokes compared to this. A very classy wine made by Dick Arrowwood
before he left St. Jean to found his own winery.

I still have one bottle of the St. Jean and have resisted opening it. I
too used to stop at Monterey Peninsula winery but they have been gone
from that site for about 10 years.