TN: Two Older Amador Reds....(short/boring)

WINE TALK
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Tried these two last Sun at Pig+Fig from Blair’s cellar:

  1. Montevina Barbera ShenandoahVlly/AmadorCnty (SpecialSlctn; 14.5%; EB) Plymouth 1980: Dark bit browning color; quite smokey/cedary/pencilly/oak fairly spicy/Barbera/dried febbel seed/Italian sausage quite spicy fairly complex nose; lightly tart/tangy slightly dried out light Barbera/spicy/Italian sausage some cedary/pencilly/oak slight Amador briary complex flavor w/ light drying tannins; very long rather cedary/pencilly/oak/smokey slight Barbera/spicy/Italian sausage bit drying light briary/blackberry/Amador complex finish w/ light tannins; starting to dry out a bit but still speaks strongly of Barbera and ShenandoahVlly; still hanging in there but a bit past its prime. $5.00 (CB)
  1. CarnerosCreekWnry 100% CabernetSauvignon Calif/ShenandoahVlly/AmadorCnty (EsolaVnyd; 13.9%; Bttld: Jan 1977) 1975: Very dark color w/ some browning; some chocolaty/bit herbal CS/black curranty fairly cedary/pencilly/smokey/cigar boxquite complex old Cab beautiful nose; soft rather cedary/pencilly/cigar box/oak rather chocolaty/bit herbal/CS lightly briary/AmadorCnty fairly complex flavor w/ light gentle tannins; very long/lingering rather ripe/chocolaty/bit herbal CS bit Amador/briary complex finish w/ light smooth tannins; still in beautiful and speaks strongly of Esola Cab; probably better 10 yrs ago, but still amazingly good. $8.00 (H-T)

A weeBloodyPulpit:

  1. This Montevina was made in the hey-day yrs of CaryGott. Montevina has never hit the strengths of his wines from the early '70’s to the early '80’s, when Cary left. This was probably Cary’s best Barbera ever, so not surprised it was still doing good. Cary was really the one who put Barbera on the map in the ShenandoahVlly. DarrellCorti showed one of Cary’s early Barberas to a Piemontese winemaker, who was blown away by it and declared it one of the best Barberas he’d ever tasted. And, as they say, the rest is history.
  1. This was, I believe, FrankMahoney’s first EsolaCab. He had been making Esola (and ChetEschen/now Rinaldi) Zin from '73 and this yr decided to take some of Ernie’s Cab as well. '75 was a very ripe yr for Esola Zin, but that did not show in his Cab. Frank continued to take Ernie’s Cab because it was so dark and he often used a bit to give a color boost to his Stelzner NapaVlly Cab. Frank’s EsolaCabs always spoke more of ShenandoahVlly briary and only hinted at CabSauvg. But they were always my preferred Cab to Frank’s Stelzner.
    Tom
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Just seeing this now - love these notes Tom! I’m a huge fan of both Montevina and Carneros Creek wines from the 70’s and early 80’s and feel that most of their wines have aged really well. Slightly less experience with their cabs (consumed more zins) but the 1980 Montevina cab I had a couple months ago was solid but spoke more of Zinfandel. 78 Carneros Creek Cabernet reserve was excellent though - still have a couple left (along with a couple 1980’s).

Whatever happened to Carneros Creek? Never had the wines when they were young but have to imagine they were good. Any chance you can educate me on the backstory?

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I had a few CC wines from the late '70s that I purchased in the early days of Winebid for dirt cheap that were really nice in the early 2000s. Haven’t had an older one since, but I imagine they are still interesting.

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Rich,
As Marshall noted, the wnry was sold by FrankMahoney and acquired eventually by Mondavi. Frank kept the Pinot vnyds and scaled back production at Mahoney Family Vnyds. Which is his focus. And planted LasBrisas vnyd on the South side of the hwy in the deep Carneros. Frank is still going strong at MFV and probably making his best wines ever.
At CC, his first wine was a '72 Napa Gamay, which was quite good. His Estate Pinot didn’t come on line until '76. He started making NapaVlly Cab, mostly from Stelzner. And also Amador Zin, Esola & Eschen vnyds. And Esola Cab. Frank got an earful from me when he dropped those. His '75 MarstonVnyd PetiteSirah was the stuff of legends. He also made very good NapaVlly Chard.
He also made reds from DunniganHills in YoloCnty. The RubyCab was particularly good.
His marketing guy at CC was BillBishop, who sometimes shows up here on WB. You listening, Bill??
Frank developed a passion for RedBurg when working at Draper-Esquin’s. Hence his Pinot passion. He did one of the first Pinot clonal studies early on at CC.
Now you know the rest of the story, Rich!! Some of it may even be true!!
Tom

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Ha ha! As always, I really appreciate the history and the education Tom…whether it’s true or not :wink: Would have loved to try some of these CC wines in their youth but have really enjoyed them with age. Also, I 100% agree on that 75 Petite Sirah! I had a 750ml 5 years ago and it was incredible! Was also lucky enough to scoop up a magnum a couple years ago. I’ll save it for when you visit AZ sometime Tom [cheers.gif]

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Is now National Marketing Director for Steele Wines. Sent him a ping.
Tom

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Heard from Bill. It was Connoisseur Wine Imports that Frank first worked. Think that was Art Balfour.
Tom