Around Christmas we went over to a friends house. While there we went to the cellar and I came across the “sub-cellar” which is just a door that leads to some dirt under the house. That night I saw piles of wine that were “past their prime”. On that night we found a 1991 Smothers Brothers Remick Ridge Cab Sauv. It was one of my wines of the year for 2011.
So last night we were over there again and went back down to the sub cellar. First bottle I pulled up for a Sutter Home something or other that showed signs of leakage. Buried that back in the dirt. Then I pulled out a 1985 David Bruce Silver Anniversary Cab Sauv (Generic California designation). We brought the bottle upstairs and washed off all the dirt. Cork looked good and came out ok. On the nose initially, some serious funk and thought it might be bad. I thought about the slow-o method, but we were impatient. We gave the initial pour a few minutes and came back to it and the funk had blew off, but it still seemed muted. We then grabbed the Vinturi and poured a couple glasses through that. Wow, what a difference. Nose really opened up; ripe fruit, forest floor, anise, and eucalyptus. Seemed a bit thin on the mid-palate and had an ok finish. We preceded to go back and have another glass and it had already started fading by then with everything seeming to be more muted and dull.
Another fun surprise from their trash bin. Can’t wait to see what we find next time.