TN Heitz Martha's CS 1976 and Ch. Laville-Haut-Brion 1978
 

Both wines were bought soon after release and stored properly. Fills
were still in the neck and there were no cork or other issues.

Heitz Cellar Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon, Martha's Vineyard 1976.
This wine is still very intense in color, showing just a bit of age
around the rim. It has been about the same for several years now and
likely will hold well for several more years. No oxidation is
apparent. The wine has rounded well with age and developed
considerable complexity with still enough fruit. Tannins are now under
control. Th balance is very good, and the finish is long.

Chateau Laville-Haut-Brion 1978 likely is at the peak, but likely will
hold very well for more than 10 years. It is very pale lemon color.
The balance is now near perfect. There is still good fruit, and the
wine has smoothed out with age. A hint of honeycomb wax, without
sweetness, has developed. The finish is long. When young this wine
only gave hints of what it would become. I started drinking dry white
Bordeaux in an era when much of this wine tasted very plain, did not
last well, and reeked of sulfur. After this beginning, it was a very
pleasant to find that there are a very few dry white Bordeaux wines
that can age well and in time develop into one of the great wines of
France. Unfortunately, there is very little of this class of wine, and
today you have to pay a very high price if you can find it at all. For
me this wine matches very well with classic seafood dishes with rich
sauces.