Opened this Thanksgiving with a slew of other wines. Was a standout for me. The estate vineyard from this wine was purchased by Gallo some time follwing Chip Lyeths death in 1988 from a stunt plane crash and is now known as Barelli Ranch. I found this bottle at Bottle Barn in Santa Rosa who purchased a cellar from the Keefer family in an estate sale. Sometimes you get lucky and find that hidden gem amongst many OTH wines. Glad I took a flyer on this offering. Sorry there was 1 bottle available.
1985 Lyeth A Red Bdx Blend- USA, California, Sonoma County, Alexander Valley (11/23/2018)
I’ve had almost a half dozen wines I purchased from an old cellar/estate sale in the past week. Most of them early 2000s California Pinot Noir that have been well past their prime or helped along by unfavorable cellaring. This bottle of Lyeth was the last of the group.
Cork was still spongy and sealing all the way down to the liquid, +. First pour was a dusty, just barely bricking, burgundy red. Aromas of dried flowers, strawberry preserves and some saddle leather. Starts out a little flushed on the palate but then comes black cherry and a building acid lift turning the fruit tart then sweet strawberry on the tongue. With a bit of swirling the nose takes on some bell pepper and jalapeño aromas from the Cab Franc, ever evolving. Medium minus bodied, balanced and extremely enjoyable. Well integrated tannins frame the long floral finish.
I’ve had a lot of old wines that have tasted just like that. Old wines that have just hint of fruit but off-putting aromas that detract rather than enhnace. This wine is an excellent example of a well aged/well stored bottle where all the parts fit seamlessly enhancing one another. Like when you just nail a shot in golf. Reminds you of why you slog through the other shots in search of this kind of experience. Outstanding!
Back in the day Lyeth Red Blend was always a reliable, relatively inexpensive red wine that you could just open and enjoy. Nice to read that your bottle pushed all the right buttons.
Lyeth was quite good in the early years. The 1981 was the first wine I searched for in local stores and bought in (modest) quantity when I retailer called me back after getting it back in stock. All of $15 a bottle.
Would you settle for Black Mountain? Jess Jackson, when he was still alive, petitioned to the Dept of Interior to change the name of Black Mountain to Jackson Mountain because he owned a winery and vineyards at the base of it. Thank goodness that never happened.
After the winery sold it’s inventory and was liquidated, I remember Safeway blowing out two or three vintages of this wine for eight bucks and change. Somehow I thought Silver Oak bought the vineyards for their Alexander Valley bottling, but that may be because they took over the winery just west of 101.
As I recall, a man whose name I repressed—here it comes–Donald Bade. He was Bade to the bone. The company was called Vintech. Anyway he put together a small conglomerate of wineries that included Jekel, Lyeth and Laurier. After the Wine Spectator lauded him as a genius, he went bankrupt and it turned out he owed 20K$ to their scholarship fund. I may be confusing his story with another. Anyway, the Boissets bought the brand and the wine; Silver Oak bought the winery and Gallo, the vineyards. I did not know about Gallo 's involvement.
Calling on Chip Lyeth was always entertaining. He ran his business out of Catelli’s in Geyserville, then a hangout for growers. You would get a drink at the bar and sit with Chip and his gang at the banquette. Never boring.
I stumbled across some 1994-1996 Thunder Mountain a couple of years ago. In addition to having the greatest wine label ever, the wines were absolutely delicious. That vineyard, from the old SCMV wines to now, has consistently produced some of the best Cabernet that I have had. Great call.
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