A real wine tasting, with real people! 7 vaccinated winegeeks gathered on my patio Sunday. Cathleen brought great cheese, Craig brought an incredible spread of charcuterie, and I made a smoked bluefish mousse to go with the Champagnes, but forgot to unwrap it. The tasting was 1984 & 1985 California Cabs and blends. All reds double-decanted before transport.

We started with the 2008 Gaston Chiquet Special Club Brut Champagne I quite enjoyed this, vibrant and young, white fruits, chalk, and sourdough. Happy to be part of this club. B+/A-

1985 Buena Vista Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon
Weedy, seedy, I dont think this is so much tired as never very good. C+/C

1985 BV Rutherford Cabernet Sauvignon
I think I drank quite a few of the Rutherfords in the 90s as they were released, but always young. This offers no evidence that was a mistake, tart and short. C+

1984 BV Georges de la Tour Cabernet Sauvignon
This had a roasted pruney note to it, I really didnt enjoy, could be storage but while I used to regard GdlT as an icon of Cal Cab, Ive had a lot of poor bottles over last couple decades. C+

1985 Sequoia Grove Estate Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon
Finally a red I really liked. Mature but not tired. Soft black fruit, tobacco, and cedar, with a hint of minty green. B+

1985 Lyeth Red Blend (Alexander Valley)
I think I liked this more than most. Tannins gone, some acid, red and black fruit with a little bell pepper and forest floor. B/B+

1984 Flora Springs Trilogy (Napa Valley)
Full and fruity, I thought some signs of overripeness. Others liked more B-

A Champagne break while I grilled some hanger steak in a ssam marinade and sausages (Weisswurst, Andouille) to go with some previously grilled peppers and squash, and Johns delicious couscous.

1996 Pol Roger Blanc de Chardonnay Brut Millesime
I thought this was just stunning. Powerful, mineral, smoky, long. A/A-

Back to reds
1985 Niebaum Coppola €œRubicon€�
Dont cross this Rubicon, because then you cant untaste it.. Green bell pepper mixed with roasted/pruney notes, thats not easy. Lets just say FFC is a great filmmaker. C+

1985 Newton Cabernet Sauvignon Napa Valley
Surprise of the night probably. A bit delicate, but with lovely dark fruit, cigar box, green herbs. B+/B

1985 Dunn Napa Cabernet Sauvignon
OK, coming up on 40, still structured and tannic. But with the hanger steak I quite enjoyed. Chewy tannins, black plum and black currant, ferric notes, long finish. Eat with steak or wait forever. B+

1985 Kathryn Kennedy Cabernet Sauvignon Santa Cruz Mountains
This was 13.7 abv (I think highest), and quite ripe, but I thought it freshened up with air and I quite liked by end.B.

1984 Beringer Chabot Cabernet Sauvignon
Still comes across as oaky,. Modest fruit, clipped finish. B-/C+

1984 Beringer €œPrivate Reserve€� Cabernet Sauvignon
Vanilla, ripe black plum verging on surmaturite, B/B-

1984 Monticello €œCorley Reserve€� Cabernet Sauvignon
I know I tasted this, but wrote nothing down.Dont think I was a fan.

1985 Joseph Phelps Backus Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon (mag)
Dont normally open mags for these tastings, but this fit Zoom plan for Monday so I decanted and immediately bottled 5 5 oz bottles. Rest served a few hours later. Really needs the air in this format, big young wine, but rather lovely. Cassis, blackberry, truffles, coffee, spice. Long and complex. Wonderful showing. A-

I cant let people leave my house without something blind, didnt feel like dessert, didnt want more red. So put 1990 Laville Haut Brion into a decanter. One errant guess of Loire, then they got white Bordeaux and soon LHB (though guesses were younger than 1990). Wax, peach and mango, vanilla, excellent length. B+/A-

When cleaning up I found a bottle pf 1985 Ch. Potelle Reserve that someone had brought but not passed. Tried next day, dead, but not a fair test.

Really wonderful to have people, in person, tasting wine and enjoying each others company.

Grade disclaimer: I'm a very easy grader, basically A is an excellent wine, B a good wine, C
drinkable. Anything below C means I wouldn't drink at a party where it was only choice.Furthermore, I offer no promises of objectivity, accuracy, and certainly not of consistency.

On 4/21/21 1:23 PM, wrote:
> A real wine tasting, with real people! 7 vaccinated winegeeks gathered on my patio Sunday. Cathleen brought great cheese, Craig brought an incredible spread of charcuterie, and I made a smoked bluefish mousse to go with the Champagnes, but forgot to unwrap it. The tasting was 1984 & 1985 California Cabs and blends. All reds double-decanted before transport.

What a fascinating theme for a tasting! The two vintages you chose are
a study in contrasts: '84 was a classic hot, ripe year, much ballyhooed
by the press. '85 was a cooler year, much more structured and largely
dismissed at the time of release.

> 1985 Buena Vista Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon
> Weedy, seedy, I dont think this is so much tired as never very good. C+/C
>
> 1985 BV Rutherford Cabernet Sauvignon
> I think I drank quite a few of the Rutherfords in the 90s as they were released, but always young. This offers no evidence that was a mistake, tart and short. C+
>
> 1984 BV Georges de la Tour Cabernet Sauvignon
> This had a roasted pruney note to it, I really didnt enjoy, could be storage but while I used to regard GdlT as an icon of Cal Cab, Ive had a lot of poor bottles over last couple decades. C+
>
> 1985 Sequoia Grove Estate Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon
> Finally a red I really liked. Mature but not tired. Soft black fruit, tobacco, and cedar, with a hint of minty green. B+
>
> 1985 Lyeth Red Blend (Alexander Valley)
> I think I liked this more than most. Tannins gone, some acid, red and black fruit with a little bell pepper and forest floor. B/B+
>
> 1984 Flora Springs Trilogy (Napa Valley)
> Full and fruity, I thought some signs of overripeness. Others liked more B-
>

I'm not terribly surprised by these. I think that I even had a bottle
of the '85 Sequoia Grove, but it's long since been consumed.


> Back to reds
> 1985 Niebaum Coppola €œRubicon€�
> Dont cross this Rubicon, because then you cant untaste it. Green bell pepper mixed with roasted/pruney notes, thats not easy. Lets just say FFC is a great filmmaker. C+
>
> 1985 Newton Cabernet Sauvignon Napa Valley
> Surprise of the night probably. A bit delicate, but with lovely dark fruit, cigar box, green herbs. B+/B
>
> 1985 Dunn Napa Cabernet Sauvignon
> OK, coming up on 40, still structured and tannic. But with the hanger steak I quite enjoyed. Chewy tannins, black plum and black currant, ferric notes, long finish. Eat with steak or wait forever. B+
>

That had to be close to the first vintage for Niebaum Coppola, no? And
great note on that Dunn. I believe that I had a bottle of that, too,
consumed with dinner at the Columbia City Hotel Restaurant in Columbia,
CA (run by students at the local community college) probably in '91 or
'92. You can only imagine what the Howell Mountain must be like!

>
> 1985 Joseph Phelps Backus Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon (mag)
> Dont normally open mags for these tastings, but this fit Zoom plan for Monday so I decanted and immediately bottled 5 5 oz bottles. Rest served a few hours later. Really needs the air in this format, big young wine, but rather lovely. Cassis, blackberry, truffles, coffee, spice. Long and complex. Wonderful showing. A-

I loved those Phelps wines from the '80s and early '90s.

> I cant let people leave my house without something blind, didnt feel like dessert, didnt want more red. So put 1990 Laville Haut Brion into a decanter. One errant guess of Loire, then they got white Bordeaux and soon LHB (though guesses were younger than 1990). Wax, peach and mango, vanilla, excellent length. B+/A-

This makes me realize that we don't drink enough white Bordeaux.

Thanks for these notes, Dale! They brought back some great memories.
Mark Lipton

On Wednesday, April 21, 2021 at 2:07:28 PM UTC-4, Mark Lipton wrote:
> On 4/21/21 1:23 PM, wrote:
> > A real wine tasting, with real people! 7 vaccinated winegeeks gathered on my patio Sunday. Cathleen brought great cheese, Craig brought an incredible spread of charcuterie, and I made a smoked bluefish mousse to go with the Champagnes, but forgot to unwrap it. The tasting was 1984 & 1985 California Cabs and blends. All reds double-decanted before transport.
> What a fascinating theme for a tasting! The two vintages you chose are
> a study in contrasts: '84 was a classic hot, ripe year, much ballyhooed
> by the press. '85 was a cooler year, much more structured and largely
> dismissed at the time of release.

Theme was John G's idea. I think it telling that of those of us who own the wines today, there was a lot more '85 owned (but I think only one person owned from 80s).
It's too bad we didn't have any matched pairs. But this is to be part 1, next round I think will include 85/85 Mayacamas, Kalin, Laurel Glen

> > 1985 Niebaum Coppola €œRubicon€�
> > Dont cross this Rubicon, because then you cant untaste it. Green bell pepper mixed with roasted/pruney notes, thats not easy. Lets just say FFC is a great filmmaker. C+
> >
> > 1985 Dunn Napa Cabernet Sauvignon
> > OK, coming up on 40, still structured and tannic. But with the hanger steak I quite enjoyed. Chewy tannins, black plum and black currant, ferric notes, long finish. Eat with steak or wait forever. B+
> >
> That had to be close to the first vintage for Niebaum Coppola, no? And
> great note on that Dunn. I believe that I had a bottle of that, too,
> consumed with dinner at the Columbia City Hotel Restaurant in Columbia,
> CA (run by students at the local community college) probably in '91 or
> '92. You can only imagine what the Howell Mountain must be like!
I can only imagine what Dunn would have been at that point!

> This makes me realize that we don't drink enough white Bordeaux.
We don't!!!!!!!

be well