10 Decades of California Cabs (no TNs)

WINE TALK
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I had an amazing wine dinner last night where we tasted through 10 decades of CA Cabs.
The lineup:
1935 Simi Cellars
1947 El Gavilan Casa de Sonoma
1959 Charles Krug
1968 BV Georges de Latour
1976 Heitz Martha’s (magnum)
1985 Chateau Montelena Estate (magnum)
1986 Dunn Howell Mountain
1997 Heitz Martha’s (magnum)
2000 Harlan Estate (magnum)
2003 Hundred Acre (magnum)
2007 Phelps Insignia
2013 Dominus
2013 Pride Mountain Reserve (magnum)
2013 Lewis
2020 Ridge Monte Bello

Sorry, no TNs, but some general impressions:

  1. CA Cabs do age, and some age very well
  2. The Simi actually improved a bit in the glass over two or so hours
  3. My favorites were the 1959 Krug and the 1976 Heitz for the older wines
  4. Favorite for the younger wines was 2003 Hundred Acre
  5. All were fantastic and clearly very well stored. We did not need to go to backups.
19 Likes
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Bravo… I had the '42 Gavilan years ago and was impressed as to how it held up.

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That’s so awesome. Would love to taste older Cali cabs!

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LOVE this!! I have a bottle of that 1935 Simi and a couple of the 47 El Gavilan that im very excited to open at some point!

Excellent comment on the 35 improving in the glass. Any thoughts on the 47?

Thanks for posting!

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The '47 was actually the one I enjoyed the least, disregarding age.

For me, it had a bit of a green streak and not as much fruit as some of the other old cabs.

Over time, the wine seemed to come together a bit, and I liked it better than the initial sip.

We were very fortunate on these bottles, as you just never know with some of these older bottles.

Rich, hope yours show well.

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Thanks Tom - really appreciate it! And yes…hopefully mine shows better when its not in the company of so many amazing wines, ha!

Cheers!

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The NV El Gavilan is 100% 1941 fruit, that wasn’t bottled until 1947 because of the war, and the Winery was later acquired by Sebastiani, recorked in 1982, and finally released.

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Thanks @B_Buzzini ! I know you’ve had more positive experiences with that one in the past, yeah?

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The condition of those labels is crazy! Pristine

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I had a good experience with this bottle abut 12 years ago.

Soft in structure.

Still have one.

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Impressive lineup.

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I haven’t seen the. ‘35 Simi if 35-40 years or so. Happy to see it’s still around is some quarters

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Have loved that 68 BV, was a beauty!

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great period for the winery. I also used to buy the late 60’s pinots from them.

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It really was an amazing showing.

I’ve had excellent bottles of old Simi, BV, and Krug. I miss that old style of wine-making.

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How are so many people getting their hands on 1970’s Heitz? I need more wine friends. :grinning: wow, what a lineup!

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That’s a very young Monte Bello. Curious how that showed?

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Actually, the Monte Bello showed fairly well. I’ve never had a MB that young, but while big, it was enjoyable. I was told it was decanted earlier in the day (no idea how many hours). For my taste, I think it’s fine to drink now or wait many years.

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