Scoop up somebody… $49.90
I already grabbed the 1997!!! ![[wow.gif]](/uploads/db3686/original/2X/7/7d450e9830889c8943b674446a21b7254cad657e.gif "wow"){kind=small}
TTT
Never been a fan of the 95 and thought it matured a bit faster than other vintages. The 97 is nice, I am drinking some 99’s as of late that have been great.
Still letting my 01’s and younger sleep.
Nice find though!
GOING, GOING, GONE…
TTT
I’ve probably had 4 bottles of the 01 chardonnay in the last two years or so. I think two showed a noticeable though not-yet-ruinous amount of oxidation, and the others were very good but I didn’t sense they would benefit from additional extended age. Of course, your mileage may vary, but my two cents’ worth would be to start checking in on those 01s this year.
Agree on the '01s. Some are getting long in the tooth. The '95s have long been into that oxidative stage of development. Drinkable, but not fooling anybody with their age. The last '97 and '98 I had (still own some '97) showed some sherry notes of bitter almond and none of the marshmallow or white truffle notes I look for in aged chardonnay. The '99s are still drinking very well and have developed well. The 2002 has been very hit or miss with about half of the bottles from a case purchased on release showing alarming advancement and half showing “Mount Eden magic”. I had a handful of '03s and am drinking them up. Since that purchase, I’ve been off Mount Eden for the cellar. I recall drinking some of the '04 basically on release and liked it a lot then, but price and mixed results have me shy to buy. For a wine that I once had almost four cases of across a span of a dozen or so vintages, I’m now down to a case and a half plus three magnums across eight vintages. I’ve shifted a lot of my chardonnay consumption to younger wines and the wines I’m cellaring are now from Burgundy (mostly Leflaive and Raveneau)
Cheers,
fred
Interesting observation on the 2001 Fred and Chris. I have had it three different times in the past year and a half and haven’t noticed any signs that it was starting to go downhill. The last bottle I had was May of last year and it was still very fresh. It seemed decently stacked with some good acid, fruit and noticeable oak. If I were to wager a guess it seemed that it needed a year or two more to come together. Maybe I will check back in with it sometime soon.
Maybe there is some bottle variation going on? I have had some older bottles (86 & 87) of mt eden chard that were from the same case, sequential bottle numbers where one was shot and the other was completely fresh.
FWIW, I thought the 2000 was very lovely last November… “Lovely earthy Meursault-like nose. Lively in the mouth w/ mouthwatering acidity, sous-bois, hazelnut nuances, hints of minerals. Fresh, lively, complex. Great on Day 2 as well. Exceptional.”
I scooped up 4 1990’s about a year ago off the ‘monkey shelf’ for $9.95
The 1988 out of 3L is still one of the greatest California Chardonnay’s I’ve ever tasted.