I am always a fan of Phelps “Backus” cabernet, but wasn’t so sure when I (cleanly) pulled the cork about two hours before seafood Bolognese and NY strip steaks. Dusty and not much else, it seemed to me, so, fearful of a near-death wine I pushed the cork back in and waited for dinner.
When it came time to eat the dustiness had blown off. The color was quite dark. With some time in the glass the wine really began to open. This is not a particularly hedonistic Cali cab, and, while plenty of fruit remains (plum?), the flavor profile had mostly moved on to secondary and tertiary – most prominently black licorice, bell pepper (in a very good way!) and spearmint. Plenty of tannins remained for grip, but the mouthfeel was soft and the finish was quite long. The mouth was better than the nose, always an appealing quality. 13.3% ABV I believe.
In short, the wine was really terrific, and also a terrific surprise. Perfect now, for my palate, I suspect it has a good 10-20 years left. The old label was pretty cool too, and seemed appropriate for such an Old School cab. 94
Nice note Kelly! Loved those mid-1980s vintages at Joseph Phelps, truly exceptional, old school wines that were built to age. I have not drunk the 1986 Backus since its release and wish I had put some in my own cellar. It sounds like the wine really came into its own with some air! Backus was always sort of the “middle child” in the Phelps’ lineup in this era, overlooked a bit between the Insignia and the Eisele. I always found the wine beautifully minty and chocolatey on release, but it sounds like chocolate went on to better things as licorice tones with thirty-plus years of bottle age.
Thanks, gentlemen. Buzz, it sounds like either I’m an easier grader than you or our different expectations drove the respective scores.
John, I very much agree on that all star lineup in those years for Phelps, and that relative value can still be had in the Backus. Interestingly, this 86 Backus very much outshone an 85 of the same provenance consumed a few months ago. Cheers, K
Opened one of these tonight. Really nice and in line with your notes Kelly, but not quite as good as the Eisele from the same vintage (and source) was last year.
Appreciate the comments about Backus. The growing seasons in the 80’s were very challenging with '84, '85 and '86 my favorites. For me, '86 possessed the best fruit attributes in terms of color, tannins and fruit maturity.
Love older Backus! My last bottle was an 04 (in 2019) which was superb. For me they show well between 15-20 years. I like them to show both primary and secondary tertiary flavors. Built for aging.
