Mondavi Reserve 1974 in Mag

Second mag of this in the last year. Purchased many many years ago and cellared without moving.

Mocha, mint, tobacco leaves, dried cherries, cigar. Hallmark 1974. Wouldn’t trust this out of a 750, but out of magnum it’s spectacular.

Top 1/3 of bottle was slightly past it’s prime. Middle 1/2 glorious. Bottom started to find the sediment.

Voluptuous. In the middle, what balance! Rutherford 1970s soil, deep and refined, with terrifically fine length.

One of the first American wines I enjoyed was 1978 Mondavi reserve, at Gotham Bar & Grill in New York (about 1985). You couldn’t eat in the bar area back then, but as we never had reservations, we convinced them to let us (we were from California after all!) and we would sit in the window overlooking 12th street drinking 78 Mondavi reserve eating their wonderful food. Later they put in tablecloths and booked those tables for dinner! The 74 is a touch less intense than the 78, but equally fine depending on your mood and cares. I think the same of the Diamond Creeks. In the day, the 74s were not nearly as good as the 78s, but looking back, given the right mood, the 74s shine through dinner just the same.

Always lovely to drink a California Cab from the 70s.

The 750’s are still good, had one a few months back & still have 6+.

Ned,

Good to hear. I wish I had 750s then, as it takes a special occasion to open a mag of this for us. Thank you for your note.

I still find many of the 750s holding quite strong, and often need quite a bit of time to open up for a 45 year old Cali wine.

I had the 750 about 18m ago and was still excellent, though maybe a hair behind a ‘76 Insignia consumed the same day. I had four more of the Mondavi delivered from Winebid a couple of weeks ago so hopefully they are as good.

My supposition as well regarding why the top 1/3 showed off, probably just needed aeration. Never heard of part of a bottle being over the hill and another part being perfect. To me that is about how the wine was served and perceived.

I opened a 750 of the '73 Reserva recently and it seemed pretty bruised and pruny so we had a glass and moved on. I tried the remainder the next day and it was fresh and drinking really well.

The '73 is my favorite Mondavi Reserve of the decade!

Amazingly, most of the 70s wines were fermented in rotofermenters.

Hi Robert,

Thanks for the note! I’ve found much to discuss about older mags over the years regarding where the sweet spot of mag is. I’ve seen many times that the mid section shows the best and many times that that does not occur. I’ve spoken casually with folks about this, some of them have seen it, others haven’t.

I agree it could be how the wine was served, but it had sat up in my cellar for 60 days or so.

It would be interesting to hear if anyone else has experienced this. And perhaps my descriptor “over the hill” wasn’t quite right. It’s a qualitative aspect more than an aspect of age.

I should add - and I’m not claiming any authority on this at all - that I’ve heard serious burgundy collectors say this about older 750s of burgs as well. I know some who judge older great DRCs etc only with some indication of where their pour came from in the bottle. Again, I do not have this level of experience with older DRCs etc. But the folks I’ve heard it from I do respect. It would be an interesting thread. I’ll try to open one later today.

Me and another WBer shared a 750 of this a number of months back and it was singing! We opened it with someone who had little experience with aged wines, and I ‘forced’ him to enjoy if over about a 3 hour period. Definitely tertiary upon opening, it continued to slowly evolve in bottle - not decanted - for that 3 hour meal and was continuing to open up with the last glass.

That said, as the saying goes, there are no great wines - just great bottles.

Cheers.

That sounds like an amazing experience. Hope one day I will get to try some older vintages like that.

Thanks for sharing! Any experience with the 79 reserve compared to 74 and 78? Been saving a magnum and will be popping later this year for a birthday. Crossing my fingers.

The 1979 is wide open and drinking very well, with the menthol / eucalyptus signature that is so common in Napa wines of this era. It is underrated, assuming your bottle is pristine. The 1978 is one of the more, if not the most, youthful vintages of the decade, vs the 1974 which is also wide open, but cut from richer, riper and more expansive cloth than the comparatively delicate 1979 or the tighter-knit but very concentrated 1978.

With the 1980, high-toast oak (plus a touch of “cassis bud” reduction) makes a very obvious debut in the Mondavi winemaking program, and the style begins to change.

I’m here to echo the fact that 70s era 750s are killing it. had a 77 a few weeks ago and it was delicious

There is no question in my mind that 60s and 70s Rutherford cabs rule. Period. After that “what rough beast, its hour come round at last” appeared?

Hi John,

I drank many 1979 Diamond Creeks and a few Mondavi cabs. I have not had one in probably 20 years. Back in the day, we could buy them here in LA for $20 as they weren’t seen as a challenge to the 78s or 74s. They were delicious, but less intense and age-worthy. Too much hierarchy, too little enjoyment. They’d sit in a bin in a great wine store here in LA, 2020 Wines, right next to 74s and 78s for a fraction of the cost and no one would buy them. So one day my friends and I bought all of them. Wish we still had some left!

After I turned 21 in 1983, I used to haunt Liquor Barns in Northern CA. I remember, about this time, seeing at just about every Liquor Barn, in locked, black wine ‘cages’, extremely large bottles of the ‘78 Mondavi Reserve. And for a few years, those bottles would sit…and sit.

Barry, I did the same LB routine and got concerned about the double mags of 78 sitting in those conditions so long. I also recall how the 1978 did not show well early.

I, like Matt, I opened a 77 Reserve a couple of weeks ago and was rewarded with the pleasure of another classic 70’s star. It took a few minutes to warm, open and hit a “cool” High C

Glad to hear about the 74 as I am sitting on a couple of other Oakville Station(within the old, original vineyard) To Kalon sourced Cabs from that fine vintage.

For my Napa Cab money I will go back in time, every time rather than overpay for the style of intensely fruity, higher alcohol and frequently over manipulated Cabs which pair best with a cheese course, not a main course. For example, last year I purchased a 1978 Burgess Vintage Select for $100 which will mess with minds for another 10+ years. I will gladly continue to seek wines from Napa’s decade of global establishment than play into today’s Napa hands where bottle pricing drives price per ton pricing to insane five figure territories.