Tasted with Sally.
Another wine that I’ve dragged around the country over the past 40+ years, often subject to less than ideal (winter in Michigan, summer in Florida) conditions.
This wine shows some indicia of abuse. Top shoulder fill. Cork 1/2 inch below the lip and fell into the wine when touched by a corkscrew.
Clear, mahogany robe with a tint of the red that it used to display. Cedar, plum and a touch of balsamic on the nose. Some aged berries and cherry pit on the tongue, with fully resolved and dissipated tannins. Fine acids.
Certainly showing as a geriatric, no doubt accelerated by my treatment. But it served as a fine drink with a honking Flannery ribeye this evening.
At one time I had three bottles of the 1973 Sonoma that my brother found in a clothing store (!!!) in Burlington VT sometime in the early 90’s. They had sold clothes and wine and were getting out of the wine business so he was able to buy them for about $15. We drank the last one over ten years ago but all were excellent.
Craig’s brother is also named Sally.
I mean, it’s got to be Burlington Coat Factory, right?
Even Sally would be excited to drink that wine. Awesome note!
Thanks. The wine was quite persistent and I consumed it over the next four hours. And although it was clearly in the downward slope, it reminded me of how much I loved Cali Cabs from that era.
And Sally came through as well
I opened a bottle of the '73 Montelena (obtained from the Men’s Warehouse with provenance guarantee) alongside the '74 Heitz Martha’s last year. It didn’t have the Eucalyptus but it was a damn good wine with plenty of fruit and savoriness that held its own.