Birthday Wines - 95 DP Oeno, 83 Prum Aus, 70 Produttori, 68 BV SpBurg, 68 Boal, 90 MonteBello and plenty of others

We got a small gathering together to crack some old stinky wines and eat some Flannery for my 50th birthday last night. It was a great time. All great people. Intense discussions and lots of laughs. Thanks to all who came.

Lot’s cool wines. Almost everything showed very well also. Probably 1.5 disappointments which considering the average age of these bottles is quite a win. And they all showed well versus merely ‘adequate for it’s age’ minus the '68.

Some quick notes:

1995 Dom Perignon Champagne Oenothèque - Powerfully fruit with a nice amount of oxidation showing up now. Richly golden colored. Drank very very well.

2002 Piper-Heidsieck Champagne Cuvée Rare - Much narrower and younger expression than the DP. Focused citrus. Almost mineral like. Fresh. Drinks very young. I’ll leave my bottle to sleep. I think this has a brighter future.

1977 Monterey Peninsula Winery Pinot Noir La Estancia - Never heard of this winery. Long paragraph on the label mentioned this was fermented on it’s stems. Quite alive and clearly identifiable as Pinot still. A bit of tannin lingering. Easily the biggest surprise on the night.

1983 Joh. Jos. Prüm Wehlener Sonnenuhr Riesling Auslese - In a lovely place. Leaned more towards power than elegance. Very tasty in a sappy sort of way. This bottle looked like it was from Germany. No back label and all German language on the side label. No ABV number.

1983 Duckhorn Vineyards Merlot Three Palms Vineyard - Magnum - Very good.

1995 Domaine Henri Gouges Nuits St. Georges 1er Cru Les Saint Georges - Very tannic still. Took a while for it really to open up into a more typical Burgundy expression. The tannin level, again was most notable here. Clearly no rush drinking this. It drank fairly richly for it’s age.

1970 Produttori del Barbaresco Barbaresco - Decanted off it’s sediment some time before arrival. What a cool wine. I immediately thought of bacon when I tasted it. Elegant and still tannic. What a great treat.

1985 Chateau Montelena Cabernet Sauvignon The Montelena Estate - The lone failure. I got a whiff of TCA. Not everyone did but we agreed this was sullen and off. What a bummer.

1968 Beaulieu Vineyard Special Label Burgundy - I only bought this because the fill was good. The wine was alive but not real interesting. It picked up some sweetness with air but was more fun than good.

1977 Raymond Vineyard & Cellar Cabernet Sauvignon - Very good.

1968 D’Oliveiras Madeira Boal - Tart citrus marmalade flavors. Bright and acidic. Tasty. Seems very young. Went down quick but I couldn’t help but think my bottle may not reach anything close to maturity in my lifetime.

1988 Château Raymond-Lafon - I was surprised to find some sugary sweetness still lingering around in this. I think this particular bottle was aging quite slowly. Tasty classic Sauternes flavors. Rich. Decadent versus balanced.

1990 Ridge Monte Bello - After the '68 turned up a bit lame I went for a ringer from my box of tricks. Lovely and pretty. Just kind of hitting a window in my estimation. Likely still on the up slope. Probably could have used more time in the decanter but it was a late addition. Terrific wine. No rush.

Some leftovers from dinner the night before. I brought these bottles a bit less than half full as extras.

2007 Rivers-Marie Pinot Noir Old Vines Summa - The aromatics of this vintage are top notch. This one is more about the nose than the palate for me. One of the better vintages of the Old Vines. I’d say it’s about time to drink them.

2007 Rhys Pinot Noir Swan Terrace - This came off a bit closed on the second night. Was fresher and more expressive at dinner the night before, after a decant. There is something clearly very good in these but they seem difficult to find open windows for.

Thanks for posting Cris. Sounds like a fun dinner.

happy 50th! you don’t look a day over 45!

Monterey Peninsula Winery products were around in the 80s at places like the old Liquor Barns. I believe the winery was owned by a group of dentists. They made some truly oddball wines like late harvest chardonnays…and the cabs were veggie.

Happy Birthday!. That’s a terrific lineup.
The Prum and Produttori sound especially great. And a 23 yr old Gouges that’s almost ready. win!

Great fun, Cris, glad the wines mostly showed so well. Was lucky enough to have the Bealieu Burg and the D’Oliveiras in Atlanta for friends’ and my 50th. Notes below::

"1968 Beaulieu Vineyards Burgundy

Mike Evans brought this super-rarity, out of Gamay and Mondeuse fruit on the estate. Almost tang (the drink) in red fruit form in the nose. Serviceable dans la bouche, holding on with lightly sweet cranberries. It does lose energy quickly.

1968 D’Oliveiras Boal Madeira

We all knew it was too soon for this and so it proves. Extremely treacle and dates aroma. Knocks you back with how kinetic it still is to taste. Lemon and apple and caramel mix together for now but needs years and years to smooth itself out."


We managed to assemble 14 birth year wines for our dozen 50-ers, of which the 1968 Marchesi di Barolo Barolo was the consensus clear #1. See you soon, my friend.

Mike

Hey Mike,

Was the BV Special Burgundy always Gamay and Mondeuse? I was thinking about starting a thread to see what the old timers had to say.

The bottle we had was just the regular Burgundy, not the Special Label. I suspect that the 1968 Special Label was from the same varieties, though, as the label says it was a selection of the 1968 Burgundy that stood apart from the rest IIRC.

Hum–good, thanks for clarifying Mike!

happy birthday cris. great set of wines.

cheers!

More about 1968 Special Burgundy. This implies it and the “regular” are the same wine!
https://www.wineberserkers.com/forum/viewtopic.php?p=1189285#p1189285

Oh cool. Thanks Paul. Good story there from JBL. His experiences with old time Cali wines used to be some of my favorite reads on old EBoob. It was too bad he decided to start laying low by the time WB came around.

I recommend reading the story at the link. I’ll only quote the specifics about this wine here:

1. No, there was – in effect – no “regular” Burgundy that year; all was “Special Reserve.” This was not the case in 1973 and 1976, when there was a “regular” and a “special” bottling, Then, they stopped producing generic “Burgundy” and “Chablis.”

2. The 1968 was composed of their “regular” blend of grapes which, while the exact composition varied from year to year, generally consisted of (IIRC) Napa Gamay (now known to be Valdigué), Mondeuse, Petite Sirah, maybe some Zinfandel, a little Pinot Noir and usually 1% of Early Burgundy.

From magnum. This was a delicious and Intellectual treat. Despite the absolutely pristine cork (zero saturation - check out the pics) I was a little concerned at pnp due to the musty nose and murky brown/rusty color, but the smell blew off quickly to reveal beautiful aromas of sweet tea, sour cherries, and autumn leaves, with much of the same on the palate along with smokey red berries and a really nice dark/savory element. Medium plus bodied with, surprisingly (or maybe not given the blend), a bit of tannin still left on the finish. Blind I’d probably be leaning aged bordeaux but this was very unique, and the type of wine you only find in CA with a very ‘un-burgundy’ mix of 35% Napa Gamay, 21% Cabernet, 12% Gamay Beaujolais, 12% Mondeuse, 11% Petite Sirah, and 9% Merlot. Add in the fact that this was a birth-year wine for me and I am a very happy camper. Life is good!!


[media] Rich Brown on Instagram: "1980 Beaulieu Vineyard Burgundy From magnum. This was a delicious and Intellectual treat.  Despite the absolutely pristine cork (zero saturation) I was a little concerned at pnp due to the musty nose and murky brown/rusty color, but the smell blew off quickly to reveal beautiful aromas of sweet tea, sour cherries, and autumn leaves, with much of the same on the palate along with smokey red berries and a really nice dark/savory element.  Medium plus bodied with, surprisingly (or maybe not given the blend), a bit of tannin still left on the finish.  Blind I'd probably be leaning aged bordeaux but this was very unique, and the type of wine you only find in CA with a very 'un-burgundy' mix of 35% Napa Gamay, 21% Cabernet, 12% Gamay Beaujolais, 12% Mondeuse, 11% Petite Sirah, and 9% Merlot.  Add in the fact that this was a birth-year wine for me and I am a very happy camper.  Life is good!!" [/media]

Nice one Rich. Love the random blend. I doubt you catch any Napa Cab in a blend like that these days.

Thanks Chris. And yeah, I’m pretty sure you’re right on the napa cab thing (especially considering what the price probably was on release for this wine)