1971 Foppiano Cabernet Sauvignon- USA, California (3/26/2017)
(Not a huge fan of older wines, so consider my bias when reading this note.) You can see the fill is good on this wine by the photo. This wine definitely is NOT dead, but definitely into tertiary stage. Regardless, at 46 years old, it’s incredibly impressive to have this much fruit still in it. The structure is mostly integrated or gone, though it still bears a decent acidic profile, so it holds up ok, delivering the predominantly red fruits to the palate. The nose is not as musty/old as I’d expect, but definitely has a strong iodine component over the cherries and baking spice. Finish fades quickly, but again, overall, it is FAR from ‘dust’ or ‘memories’ of what a wine it was - there’s still great life in it, and honestly, if you like tertiary wines, this one has probably 5 more years, easily, in it.
Not a fan of older wines either. I’d say 90% of the time it’s a disappointment. When I had my 50th nine years ago we popped some oldies (although not from '58) and most were not exciting. People said nice things about them but they were just being polite. We did have a mag of 1977 Warres port that was spectacular. Happy birthday Todd.
Yeah but something about opening a wine as old as you are. I’m a '57 and as much as that year sucks, I’ve had a few Bordeaux that have actually been worth drinking. And there’s something about opening a wine as old as you are!
Weren’t you just drinking 1982 Bordeaux? Those are maturing, and by many basic wine standards, “old”. I guarantee you that you will love these 1982 Bordeaux as much now as when they are as “old” as the Foppiano.
Soren and I are in the same boat, 1965 generally sucks! I will say, however, that the 1965 Mouton that I popped lt year with Tooch, Corey and MarcF, was quite lovely and a total surprise. I do not recall 1971 being strong in Bordeaux, either.
1971 was quite good on the right bank, but stronger on the right bank than the left, and excellent in Sauternes. The problem with 1971 is that many of the best bets are places that aren’t as widely available at auction as are Port and Bordeaux, such as Germany, Burgundy, Loire whites, and Piedmont.
Todd, the '71 burgs (on all levels) can also be really fine, even today.
Alfert, have You seen this 1963-4-5 mixed bottling before ?
It’s pretty rare and a little expensive.
.
If there is enough '64 in the mix, and just a little '65, it could work as a B-day wine.
A French collector bought (6 years ago) a large part of very rare wines, from a now closed restaurant in Reims. He’s selling some bottles, but He knows the value…€500 for this Margaux!
Do you mean Sonoma/California/US-wines … or all wines in general?
Admittedly my experience with 40+ year old Sonoma-wines is zero … but with French (and German/Italian/Spanish …) wines it´s quite good: sorry, but with 90% disapointments you´ve simply have chosen the wrong wines …
BTW: 1971 is a spectacular vintage in (red) Burgundy - when tasting well-chosen bottles (e.g. better no Cotes-de-Beaune-Villages …) there´s rarely a disapointment at all …
It’s a lot of money, seems more of a curiosity than a purchase of something where the odds are it’s worth the fare.
I was lucky, I bought that 1965 Mouton over 20 years ago for $115 USD. Right now prices seems to be floating above $1,000 USD, which of course, is crazy for this bottle. I was also offered $1000 for it like 5 years ago. I think the label chasers seeking to acquire a vertical of all the art labels skyrocketed the prices. For the art label collectors, the poor or average vintages are harder to come by, say compared to a 1982, as people consumed them early.
![[welldone.gif]](/uploads/db3686/original/2X/f/fc9709a841aa9379fd892a9cf0b535b05f473b86.gif "[welldone.gif]"){kind=small}
![[cheers.gif]](/uploads/db3686/original/2X/0/0ff9bfcdb0964982cd3240b6159868fbdf215b1a.gif "cheers"){kind=small}
