That magical time of the year
 

Ahh, the holidays, that time of year where one is able to visit their family
and find the hidden treasures in the basement. I think someone posted
something similar to this a bit earlier in the week, so i thought I'd join in
the fun.

Tonight, it was a bottle of 1991 Buena Vista Carneros Cabernet Sauvignon. The
aroma was something like cardboard, cinnamon, and sugared boisenberries. Or
something; emphasis on the cardboard.

Drinking it was not much better. It was like no Cab I've ever had, but had
a sweetness that I am going to guess came from the time spent in the
basement/pantry over the years. Perhaps the wine was made that way, being a
'91, it could have been made in that earlier Napa style with little outlook
for aging and a strong emphasis upon sweet, sweet drinkability.

The coup de grace? My uncle said that there were *even older* wines down
there somewhere. Well, something to do before the post-Christmas dinner
tomorrow

happy holidays,
K

P.S. i'm posting this offline after most have gone to bed on Christmas night,
so am not sure when I will be able to sync up with a mail server, as my
relatives are not fond of that "crazy broadband" and I'm too lazy to configure
dialup.


--
In vino veritas
http://openwine.net

In article >, .
astroturfgarden.com says...
>
>Ahh, the holidays, that time of year where one is able to visit their family
>and find the hidden treasures in the basement. I think someone posted
>something similar to this a bit earlier in the week, so i thought I'd join in
>the fun.
>
>Tonight, it was a bottle of 1991 Buena Vista Carneros Cabernet Sauvignon.
The
>aroma was something like cardboard, cinnamon, and sugared boisenberries. Or
>something; emphasis on the cardboard.
>
>Drinking it was not much better. It was like no Cab I've ever had, but had
>a sweetness that I am going to guess came from the time spent in the
>basement/pantry over the years. Perhaps the wine was made that way, being a
>'91, it could have been made in that earlier Napa style with little outlook
>for aging and a strong emphasis upon sweet, sweet drinkability.
>
>The coup de grace? My uncle said that there were *even older* wines down
>there somewhere. Well, something to do before the post-Christmas dinner
>tomorrow
>
>happy holidays,

I'd suspect that that "cardboard" characteristic is an indication of that
bottle being "corked." At one time, Buena Vista did some nice wines, but I'm
not sure about the 1991, and Carneros is usually a bit cool for Cab, having
gone almost entirely over to Chard and PN, though maybe up the valley in the
highlands, Cab could ripen. Lately, Buena Vista, probably owned now by some
conglomerate, is seen as a "value" wine, but I have yet to find the value.

Hunt

Hunt wrote:


> At one time, Buena Vista did some nice wines, but I'm
> not sure about the 1991, and Carneros is usually a bit cool for Cab, having
> gone almost entirely over to Chard and PN, though maybe up the valley in the
> highlands, Cab could ripen. Lately, Buena Vista, probably owned now by some
> conglomerate, is seen as a "value" wine, but I have yet to find the value.

Buena Vista was purchased by a German company that I think was in the
pharmaceutical business back in the mid-80s. They installed a German
wine maker who was a very young female that changed most of their wines.
It really went down the drain in a hurry. More than likely they sold out
to some wine conglomerate in the early 90s.
That was one of the original if not the original California winery other
than what the missionaries might have started. Agostine Haraszthy
founded it I think and Tschelistcheff worked there for a lot of years.
Their tasting room is open but I don't think that they actually make
wine there.

Bill Loftin wrote:
> Hunt wrote:
>> At one time, Buena Vista did some nice wines, but I'm not sure about
>> the 1991, and Carneros is usually a bit cool for Cab, having gone
>> almost entirely over to Chard and PN, though maybe up the valley in
>> the highlands, Cab could ripen. Lately, Buena Vista, probably owned
>> now by some conglomerate, is seen as a "value" wine, but I have yet to
>> find the value.
>
> Buena Vista was purchased by a German company that I think was in the
> pharmaceutical business back in the mid-80s. They installed a German
> wine maker who was a very young female that changed most of their wines.
> It really went down the drain in a hurry. More than likely they sold out
> to some wine conglomerate in the early 90s.
> That was one of the original if not the original California winery other
> than what the missionaries might have started. Agostine Haraszthy
> founded it I think and Tschelistcheff worked there for a lot of years.
> Their tasting room is open but I don't think that they actually make
> wine there.


Sad how things change. We stopped at Buena Vista in 1998. Can't remember
the wines, but I do remember the table on their patio permanently
reserved for Agoston Haraszthy.

Dick R.

Bill Loftin > wrote:

> Buena Vista was purchased by a German company that I think was
> in the pharmaceutical business back in the mid-80s.

The company was Racke, and they were (and still are) in the
spirits business. Marcus Moller-Racke was chairman, later replaced
by his wife Anne who stayed in place after divorce, iirc.

M.

Michael Pronay wrote:

>>Buena Vista was purchased by a German company that I think was
>>in the pharmaceutical business back in the mid-80s.
>
> The company was Racke, and they were (and still are) in the
> spirits business. Marcus Moller-Racke was chairman, later replaced
> by his wife Anne who stayed in place after divorce, iirc.

And the wine maker must have been their daughter. I remember the
Moller-Racke name now. The first year she was there she changed the
gewertz to Spicling.

"Bill Loftin" > wrote in message
link.net...
: Hunt wrote:
:
:
: > At one time, Buena Vista did some nice wines, but I'm
: > not sure about the 1991, and Carneros is usually a bit cool for Cab,
having
: > gone almost entirely over to Chard and PN, though maybe up the valley in
the
: > highlands, Cab could ripen. Lately, Buena Vista, probably owned now by
some
: > conglomerate, is seen as a "value" wine, but I have yet to find the
value.
:
: Buena Vista was purchased by a German company that I think was in the
: pharmaceutical business back in the mid-80s. They installed a German
: wine maker who was a very young female that changed most of their wines.
: It really went down the drain in a hurry. More than likely they sold out
: to some wine conglomerate in the early 90s.
: That was one of the original if not the original California winery other
: than what the missionaries might have started. Agostine Haraszthy
: founded it I think and Tschelistcheff worked there for a lot of years.
: Their tasting room is open but I don't think that they actually make
: wine there.

I remember the '86 was a QPR winner, particularly with the Safeway case
discount. I wonder if that was when the winemaker changed, because it was
the last time I thought it was worth buying.

Tim