I’d like to grab a couple bottles to celebrate cracking 40 this year. I admit to not taking a deep dive but a cursory review of my options has returned much.
For reference I love old school Napa Cab (and LOVED ‘79 Mayacamas and ‘77 (I think it was ‘77 Clos du Val) and Paulliac. Like but don’t love Port and Madeira. Would consider all options, including Burgundy, German Reisling, etc. Any recommendations?
1978 was a great year in California Cabernet and Burgundy and a good year in Bordeaux.
For California Cabernet, look for anything by Diamond Creek (these wines were great), Chateau Montelena, Heitz (you can look beyond Martha’s Vineyard to Bella Oaks and do very well, although it has been a long time since I had this) or Mondavi Reserve. I have recently had a very good Stag’s Leap 1978 Cab so this also is a possibility. I had the Clos du Val you asked about and liked it a lot, but I had it in the mid-1980s and don’t know how the wine has aged. I have not had any 1978s from Ridge, so cannot comment other than great estate. Mayacamas 1978 has a great reputation, but again I have not had it.
Burgundy is harder to recommend because the production is so small for most estates I have no idea what you can find. I know that Faiveley made outstanding wines in the vintage and you may be able to find them somewhere.
I have had very good 1978 Bordeaux, but I don’t remember ever having a great one. Ducru and Pichon Lalande seem to be good recommendations.
I don’t remember 1978 being a great or even good vintage in German wines. 1979 was good, but the great vintages of the era were 1971, 1975 and 1976, with 1971 at the top.
I think this is way off on Piedmont. I had a beautiful 1978 Marcarini Brunate @ EMP for $375 a few months ago, ordered off the list. I think if a 3 michelin star restaurant in NYC has an option for $375, you can probably find something at a reasonable price. And I don’t think any bottle of Produttori has or will ever sell for >$1000!!
Indeed. In fact, Wine Searcher indicates the 1978 Produttori Barbaresco can be purchased from Fine & Rare in London (an excellent merchant) for ~$130. I am sure more extended searching could come up with a number of good options in the US.
It was a vendor in Milan, but I bought 6 bottles of 1978 Produttori Rabaja in May of 2016 for the princely sum of $63 - including the 7.5% VAT you don’t get back in the airport. (They are drinking great, btw). Similarly a bottle of 1978 Cappellano Barolo bought from Chamber’s street in 2015 was $168. I agree Giacosa and Conterno are pricey, but among the rest there are some values to be had. If interested in Barolo, Chambers Street often has some great lesser-known wines
Among California wines, the best California Cab I’ve ever had was a 1978 Phelps Eisele Vineyard - although THAT would be pricey
Mondavi both the reserve and the regular bottlings are still going very strong. I"ve had multiples of both in 750 and mag over the past couple of years and they are amazing.
BV GdL is pretty good as is Guigal’s Hermitage both of which I’ve had over the past year.