To add a bit of nuance to the question, while the best American wines I’ve had have mostly been '70s cabs (Heitz, Mayacamas, Sterling, Ridge, Phelps, and Diamond Creek), I’m more of a pinot guy, so will put in a vote for one of the great early '90s Williams-Selyem’s, the '92 Allen (although I’ve experienced some bottle variation).
Cheers,
-Robert
In a big vertical we did back to the 40s the 1958 stood out as the best, followed closely by the 1968.
Best ever for me was the 68 Heitz Martha’s, a step above all the other vintages. Even the regular Napa that year is amazing.
Of the modern era, several Schrader Sparkys, with maybe the 2006 first.
None of these wines was made from grapes that were own rooted.
I suspect favor is given to older wines a/because they are much more rare and b/because they are 10 to 20 years older than most of the other wines mentioned.
If we did this exercise in 10+ years, I suspect there would be lots of wines from 1978 and the '80s in the discussion. So-called cult wines would get lots of play as well.
I 2nd this! I am way too young and inexperienced with older Cali Cabs to comment most of what has been mentioned in this thread. On the other hand, the early 90’s WS Pinots got me into wine and remain the stars in my world. Oh how I wished I would have saved a couple.
Lots of love out there for old time Cabs from the 60’s and 70’s. For those of you who have drank these wines recently or in the distant past how lucky we are to have grown up with wine when it was relatively inexpensive and available to purchase. By the mid 80’s and later it had become much more difficult and expensive to maintain the love with our favorites. For me, the clear standout best American wine has been the 1968 Heitz Martha’s Vineyard, consistently putting the other favorite Heitz vintages, the 70 and 74 into the shade when all 3 are on the table together. One memorable event in the 80’s featured 1966-1976 Martha’s vineyard with Joe present at the event giving details on each harvest and his opinions on the wines. The 1969 was always his personal favorite and indeed very close in quality to the 68. At this event, my one and only taste ever of the 66 was truly a grand surprise, incredibly great wine at that time. Never had the luck to find another bottle of it. It’s not a vintage that ever gets much respect.
My vote is for a wine not even from Northern California. The 1875 Isaias W Hellman Cucamonga Vineyard Angelica bottled in 1921.
Ripple? Really? I was more of a Boone’s Farm Strawberry Hill person.
First, as the wines have gotten bigger with higher alcohol, they don’t have the complexity of the older wines.
Second, a great mature wine is better than a great young wine. The new wines are not mature yet, so that you do not know yet what will happen to them. We recently did a Chateau Montelena vertical, for example. My favorites were just about in order of age (with a couple of exceptions) with the oldest being the best. However, the wines were probably pretty similar and it would not shock me if the 2005 (the youngest we tasted) is not just as good as a lot of the older ones with time.
Took a bottle of the '58 to the famous Valentino Restaurant in Santa Monica and shared a taste with Piero Selvaggio, the owner, and he said it was the best California wine he had ever tasted.
Had the '74 Martha’s about a year ago. Just edged out by 1960 Gemello that evening. Contendahs ferr shurr.
Dan Kravitz
This, both parts. Well said, Howard.
I keep thinking of this in a broader sense than most others, apparently, as I don’t see the question as a specific wine from a specific vintage, rather, I see it as a wine that continues to perform, for many vintages - perhaps countless vintages - and has a broad appeal stylistically, PLUS provides a great value. For that I go with Ridge Geyserville, which is unquestionably a value, can age or drink young, and appeals to a very broad audience (as opposed to Cabernet Sauvignon, Chardonnay, and many other more polarizing varietals)
Wow, would have love to have tried that.
I drove through Rancho Cucamonga 500x when I lived in Yorba Linda. Even by 1999 there were still a few 10+ acre, 100+ year old mixed black vineyards there. I saw them ripped out one by one to make way for home development. I suspect that area was prodigious for wine and could have competed against Napa if things worked out post-Prohibition.
I’ve had many of the 70’s and 80’s Cabs mentioned here, but for me the greatest American wine is the 1983 Eyrie South Block Reserve.
Geyserville certainly is an American icon, a great wine and a great value. Deserves a mention.
58 Louis Martini Special Select
69 Chappellet
74 Mayacamas (Over the Heitz too)
More modern wines
94 Harlan
97 Imposter McCoy
Best I’ve ever had:
1969 Heitz Martha’s
1974 Clos du Val Cabernet
best pinot, probably some early 2000’s Belle Pente pinots or early 1990s W-S pinots.
Wow, would have love to have tried that.
Roy, still have a bottle of the Cucamonga 1875 “Port.” Maybe we can drink it sometime.
It is interesting isn’t it that most replies allude to older wines. That begs the question if they could produce such great wines back then why not now? One would argue that with all the technology and knowledge that we have now we should produce even greater wines now that should eclipse those from the past. But that has not been borne out in this thread. So it is nostalgia that prompts us to identify those older wines as great or that they have had time under their belt to mature and display the fruit most optimally whereas the young ones, albeit superlative, are just in their infancy.
Already asked and answered upthread.
I’ve had a number of the wines mentioned and others, and had young wines that sure seem like they might be contenders, but that would be purely speculative.