Lugeresue thoughts about aged CA Cabs

WINE TALK
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If you were at the luncheon, you can skip the next two paragraphs.

Yesterday was the annual Peter Lugeresque luncheon organized ably by Mark Franks at Peter Pratt’s Inn in Yorktown. Denominated “Episode Five - The Winos Strike Back,” the event was the fifth in a series of large scale wine bashes at which we get to eat Peter Lugers Porterhouse at a place that allows us to bing great wines (Peter Lugers itself has a bad wine list and no BYO).

This year, an anonymous donor provided a 6 litre bottle of 1978 Mondavi Reserve Cab, with pours to be given to anyone who contributed $20 to the Anna McKinney charity for children with cancer. The group raised more than $1,000 for the charity.

There were over 100 wines around the room, and I tasted only a few of them, but in additon to the 1978 Mondavi I also had a glass of 1985 Dominus that the “California Table” had decided was already dead. I disagreed on that conclusion and a member of the “Bordeaux” table who also tried the wine had the same impression I had.

My impression of both wines, although they were different in may ways, was that they had the flavor profile that you would expect from a 20+ year old left bank Bordeaux. I think the Dominus screamed 1982 Gruaud Larose and the 1978 Mondavi was similar but a bit lighter with more age showing. Earthy, saddle leather, light fruit, tanins fully resolved, nice balance, a pleasant wine to drink with moderate but not overpowering beef dishes.

This is not the first time that I have had that impression of older CA Cabs. Most of us tend to drink them at 10 years or less, and the fruit is the strongest component of the flavor profile at that point, but IMHO, if you let them age, they are much more similar to Bordeaux cab-based blends than most people want to admit.

BTW - I am a fruit forward guy myself and I got a small taste of the 2007 Saxum JBV that had been decanted for 24 hours before pouring. Now that’s my kind of wine. I wonder what it will taste like after 20 years - but I doubt I will have patience to wait until I’m 76 years old to find out.

There was a lot of other great wine around the room. Mark Golodetz offered me two Burgs (I think Clos St. Denis), same vintage and same vineyard, one the Girardin bottling “designed” for the European palate, and the other from a producer I was less familiar with that was “designed” for the American palate. Do Europeans really like it when their wine has the aroma of the cat litter box in my house when we forget to empty it for a day? deadhorse

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Jay, I wasn’t there and so can’t comment on the particular bottle at hand, but I have the '85 Dominus in my cellar and the last time I tried it (within the past year) I definitely didn’t think it was in any danger of losing it. If memory serves, the wine has always been a stern, tannic '85 Cab, so I’m kind of surprised anyone would think it “over the hill” unless the bottle was in some way flawed. That said, I have also never seen a resemblance to the '82 Gruaud Larose, a wine that I love and have had on numerous occasions.

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I didn’t get a chance to try the '85 Dominus and would have loved to. I think it’s all a matter of context. If you drink that wine next to say the 02 Spottswoode or 03 Colgin being served it could taste old and “over the hill”. We had the '78 Mondavi with our older Rhones, the 89 La Chappelle, 90 Boisrenard and 90 Beau, so it was not overwhelmed. I’ve certainly begun of late to appreciate the secondary nuances that older Cal Cabs can offer. I recently had an '84 Monte Bello that was absolutely stunning.

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I really liked the 78 Mondavi, but then I often love 70s cabs (even from smaller formats). My appreciation of 80s CA gets spottier, and personally I have less confidence in a lot of 90s CalCabs that they’ll get better than now. Changes in style.
I didn’t have the 85 Dominus, but an 85 Phelps Backus rocked recently. But I can’t say I thought the Mondavi Bdx-ish. But a lovely wine with a strong ferric streak.

I never saw the bottles from Mark, but I thought they were Bonne Mares, the Girardin bottling and a label that Girardin does for Euro marrket

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I also had a 1984 monte bello a few months ago that I thought was quite good. I don’t have much experience with mature Bordeaux, but this wine did remind me of some of the descriptions I have read. It also leaned a lot more towards medium with most of its components (body, flavor intensity, acid), which reminded me structurally of Bordeaux. I don’t have the experience to say whether or not it’s a fair comparison, but this wine was really good and, if served blind, I’m sure I would have been thinking old world. As a side note, while still drinking well, I thought this wine was into the downhill phase of its life. It’s good to hear that someone might have had an even better experience with a different bottle. I might try another one someday.

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You are correct:

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The 85 Dominus was at my table. I’ve never had a 85 before but I have had various vintages from the 90’s. The 91 being one of my favorite Ca. Cabs.

I really felt the bottle was over the hill with no fruit. Nothing really wrong or flawed. Just way past its prime.