Just to clarify: this is not a ‘drink crap’ theme, it’s a drink that you think ‘could be cap, and be pleasantly surprised that it isn’t’ or heaven forbid, ‘even pretty good’. ![[dance2.gif]](/uploads/db3686/original/2X/a/a6ccdc94a15acd80c66296c39ad7b68296214956.gif "dance2"){kind=small}
Not necessarily if well kept. I had a 1958 Chateau Caillou in July 2006 (ex-château). Very much alive, if not terribly impressive per se.
Great idea!
I bought a lot of mixed '74 Petite Sirah at a charity auction a few years ago. I had the Ridge York Creek already, but there are two more bottles in the lot, and the labels have completely come off. I have no idea what they are, but I can probably track it down before I open one (or both). They might be toast…might be great. They have been stored well, so it’s worth a shot!
I would bet these would be excellent.
That has to be an off bottle of Dominus. I have had this wine a few times and it is no where near over the hill. Probably the greatest dominus IMO, beats the 94 and 87 by a hair.
Maybe…but to clarify my prior post, the wine was still good, just in my opinion, no longer at its peak.
I guessing storage problems here. '59 La Tache is nowhere near past its prime as is '91 Dominus. Both wines should be drinking extraordinarily well right now, unless of course they were not stored properly.
That may be the case. I can not vouche for the storage of either bottle, as I was just a thankful guest in both circumstances.
Hmmmm?
71 Sterling Pinot?
89 SeaRidge Occidental Zin?
85 Ridge Geyserville Trentadue Zinfandel ATP?
74 Sterling Cab Reserve in 375?
72 Sterling Merlot?
There are reasons to believe that some of these could be alive. Vote if you’d like!
Wow, I’d say go for the '71 Sterling Pinot!!! That’s got to be red wine vinegar by now
I took a flyer on this wine because of comments Rick Forman made in an interview in the UC Berkeley Wine Industry Oral History project. (The Oral History Project is an incredible gem of a resource! Find it here: Bancroft Library | UC Berkeley Library)
The Forman interview is here: Launching Bordeaux-Style Wines in the Napa Valley: Sterling Vineyards, Newton Vineyard, and Forman Vineyard
Here is what Forman said to Carole Hicke in 1999:
Forman
At Sterling in that same year, 1969, we made all these other goofy white wines, as I mentioned, and those were fermented in stainless, but the last to be for me. And then we made Cabernet, of course, and Merlot. We also had some Pinot Noir, which was growing at Three Palms, of all places, the absolute worst place in the world for Pinot Noir to be grown.
Hicke
Where is it?
Forman
Three Palms Vineyard is just on one of the last bends of the Silverado Trail as it comes around to Dunaweal Lane. It’s just in back of Sterling. It’s a unique swathe of ground, having been sort of criss-crossed over the eons with Selby Creek, and so it’s very rocky. It’s rocky in the same way that Rhone soils are rocky. It has all these round, river-run, hard rocks, and very gravelly, well-drained soil. It’s a super place for grapes, but it’s for grapes that require heat and exposure, not sensitive grapes like Pinot Noir. The Cabernet and Merlot and Franc and so forth do marvelously there, but the Pinot Noir was just a joke. I don’t know why they ever planted it. That came before me.
So I tried to make Pinot Noir at Sterling. Actually, in 1971 we made quite a unique one. It was a California-style Pinot Noir. It’s still very viable. It’s unbelievable. It was tannic, dark, and uniquely spicy and flavorful. It worked. I wouldn’t call it Burgundian Pinot Noir, but it worked.
The Dead Collector: Bring out yer dead.
[a man puts a body on the cart]
Large Man with Dead Body: Here’s one.
The Dead Collector: That’ll be ninepence.
The Dead Body That Claims It Isn’t: I’m not dead.
The Dead Collector: What?
Large Man with Dead Body: Nothing. There’s your ninepence.
The Dead Body That Claims It Isn’t: I’m not dead.
The Dead Collector: 'Ere, he says he’s not dead.
Large Man with Dead Body: Yes he is.
The Dead Body That Claims It Isn’t: I’m not.
The Dead Collector: He isn’t.
Large Man with Dead Body: Well, he will be soon, he’s very ill.
The Dead Body That Claims It Isn’t: I’m getting better.
Large Man with Dead Body: No you’re not, you’ll be stone dead in a moment.
I have a 90 Opus One… You think that’s dead yet?
Ok, I started this mess, I may as well post the first note.
1991 Guenoc Cabernet Sauvignon Reserve Beckstoffer IV
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1991 Guenoc Cabernet Sauvignon Reserve Beckstoffer IV - USA, California, Napa Valley (5/2/2009)
A sweet nose with vibrant color. Some sweet cherries and anise. A bit simple but enjoyable. Some muted soy and some old leather. Some fruits still evident, so it ain’t dead. It solidifies to me why I avoid old wines. It just drinks. No pizzaz, no umph. No wow, or even half a wow. (88 pts.)
On a related note:
We often get the opportunity to sell some juice with ten or more years on it at less than $10 a bottle through Importer or distributor clearances (currently we have a 1999 Faugeres and a Chilean Merlot, both $7.99). We then have to SERIOUSLY make sure that we tell everyone picking one up that “this is not going to be fruity and smuckery like your average $8.99 wine, it will have a distinct meaty / earthy note to it…”. Otherwise we get people who have no experience at all with older wines bringing them back and saying “This bottle turned!”.
I’m game.
1978 Ernest & Julio Gallo Private Reserve Cabernet
Fill into the neck, labels look good. According the back, this is a Sonoma born Cab. These OG bottles with no punt always trip me out.
Mike I would have thought you’d be into the Keever.
Brian, I had some '82s that showed beautifully, fills were into the neck though. Hopefully there is some life left in your '87!
me too.
Taylor,
Just pulled the "87 from offsite storage, fill looks good, cautiously optimistic…
Digging around the cellar, I did find a 70’s Vinho Verde, but opening that’s just silly now isn’t it?!