TN: 1997 Thunder Mountain Cabernet, Beauregard Ranch

I can’t decide which I like more…the wine or the label


[media][Rich Brown on Instagram: "I mean....Best label ever?? First time with this producer and I was not disappointed. Old school, rustic cab goodness with distinct minty, herbal notes being the main attraction. Perfectly complimented by high acidity and a bit of cassis. And you gotta love the 12.9% ABV. Great stuff and exactly what i was looking for tonight. #santacruzwine #thundermountainwinery #beauregardranch #cabernetsauvignon #wine"]

What a great memory. We tasted with Thunder Mountain’s proprietor Milan Maximovich circa 1997 at the Byington Winery where he made wine at the time. He was a generous host, and those wines were amazing. (Sandar and Hem caught my eye this Berserker Day because they are sourcing – and making great wine – from some of the same vineyards). It was so sad when Milan passed way too soon.

But to answer your question, no, those might be the worst wine labels ever.

Rich, you’ve been…

Ha ha! Oh come on…how could you not smile when looking at that label

And love the story about tasting at the winery! Would have been great to try this on release to be able to compare to where its at now.

Man, such a great song!

And a great wine!

EDIT: In hindsight, just a huge miss not rocking some ACDC when I first popped this. So disappointed in myself for not thinking of that!

Sorry, couldn’t resist. Milan’s Bates Ranch Cabernet and Bald Mountain Chardonnay were seminal wines early in our wine journey. I recall Roy Piper on another thread saying Milan’s Bates Cabernet was better than Ridge Monte Bello in the mid-90s. I love Monte Bello but couldn’t disagree. Beautiful wines out of the gate. Wish we had bought more and saved some, but we were starving (and thirsty) grad students at the time.

I met him in the late '90s at a huge multi-winery SCM tasting hosted by Fellom Ranch. His Bates Ranch Cab was the wine of the day for me ('96 iirc). Also met Duane Cronin that day. Some of the folks on here, like Larry Stein, knew Milan pretty well and have their stories.

That’s awesome Wes! Would love to hear some of those stories - I hope Larry sees this and is able to share

I remember the Bates Ranch cab well. A wine shop I moonlighted at back in the day was my introduction. It was a great cab at about the 7 year mark and I finished mine off by 2010. It was a bargain by today’s standards, I think it was priced in the low to mid $30’s

Haha, fun stuff!

Tooch brought a botttle of the Cab Franc to my house several years ago. Only Corey guessed it. And then might have said something like, “Alfert, you looked like the muscular demigod on the label.” As the host, I had to acknowledge his comment favorably.

Your recollection is mostly correct. I asked when you had time to pose for the label, given the number of hours you work at your law firm, training for the Ironman competition, the hours that you donate to the homeless shelter and various other charitable causes, etc. I’ll never forget your response…“you make the time for the things that are important. Now shut up and pour me more wine, boy.”

Inspiring words that will stay with me for a lifetime.

Trader Joes blew these out -both the Cab and Chardonnay - for about $9/bottle. I think I was able to get a case. Great guy and really did enjoy his wines. Met him at a tasting in Aptos back in the day. He sure could tell some stories!

Killer stuff…where is Cienega Valley and why isn’t it littered with Cab Franc vines?

Milan was a sort of bigger-than-life character. He was a very big presence on the InterNet wine scene from the early days…back on alt.food.wine (anybody remember that Site?).
I first met him in the SouthBay area when we got together to taste some wines. He then went on to found ThunderMtnWnry, making his wines at Byington, where I once did
a visit w/ him. “Followed him from the very start”?? Guess you could say that. His wines were, across the board, terrific. He was the one who really first made BatesRanch famous.
Tom

Tom - you think he was the first to make Bates Ranch famous? Before Santa Cruz Mountain Vineyard or Ahlgren?

Cienega Valley is South of Santa Clara Co. and East of Monterey Co. Very close to the Pacific Ocean/Monterey Bay. For a great thread on the Vineyards and wineries that source grapes from their check out Drew Goin’s great thread Santa Clara & San Benito Wine Heritage - WINE TALK - WineBerserkers

The amount of different varieties that is grown there is impressive, many being old vines.

It’s the next valley inland from the Salinas Valley, basically runs southeast of Hollister in San Benito County. A lot of the older vineyards were planted for Almaden, some of them experimenting with less commonly planted varieties.

-Al

Yup, Ian…I’d forgotten about KenBernap’s early efforts w/ BatesRanch. Didn’t follow DecterAhlgren’s wines too closely.

Tom

During the late 90s, in my nascent days of wine appreciation, I was a huge fan of Thunder Mountain wines. The cabs were old school and structured, while the chards were unabashedly big and rich. I’m not sure how my palate would react today, but I couldn’t get enough of the '95 through '97 Bald Mountain chardonnays. Great memories. RIP Milan.

Damn, $9 per bottle is a crazy deal! Nice score!!