1988 Ravenswood Cabernet Sauvignon Gregory Vineyard- USA, California, Sonoma County, Sonoma Valley (11/25/2019)
My first bottle from the Ravenswood library sale, and boy did this not disappoint. Cork broke, and then part fell into the bottle, so I strained into a decanter. At first this seemed a bit tired and over the hill, though still pleasant. After an hour this really opened up. Lovely classic aged Cab flavors. Leather, mushrooms, violets, with some hints of raspberries and mint. Incredibly smooth, with a medium weight – the finish just goes on and on. Over the evening this became a treat to drink. This is such a great deal at $45. Glad I have one more bottle! (93 pts.)
The cork on mine was actually quite dry, not saturated. But the Durand would work well in either case! I will say on Durand that the idea of paying that much money for a corkscrew seemed silly, but I am so glad I did. If you have older wines it saves a lot of time (and damage)!
Brandon – sorry you missed the sale. It was pretty amazing. It was all sold out within hours, though I think they may have another one at some point.
Popped one of these last Wednesday. Let the bottle stand up all day, surprisingly not much sediment until the very end of the bottle and we filtered with a mesh metal screen.
We had a Weill a Way 2014 Syrah in the decanter for around 4+ hours and drank that first with the cab poured in a Grassl Glass for an hour before we started drinking it.
Smelled of mint or maybe eucalyptus and absolutely got the earthy tones once it hit the palette. Great to try a 31 year old cabernet.
The cork had some major sludge under it and we had to wipe the neck of the bottle down with a wet paper towel.