Exactly!..I was just really getting into wine in the late 80’s/early 90’s and I was shopping at Wine Library and Gary’s Wine (and other smaller wine stores here in NJ) on a weekly basis, and I bought so many of the same wines as your Dad Bu3ker!..I have fond memories of drinking those classics…
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Same here!
Arrowood was formative for me, and the photo of the 1992 Bancroft Ranch was like having someone turn on the lights in a room in my mind that’s been dark for a long time. We used to sell that wine at a restaurant I worked at, and we drank a fair bit as well.
Back in the day, Groth, Montelena, Arrowood, Beringer (PR and BC), and Peter Michael Les Pavots were some of our favorite wines, along with Ridge Lytton Springs Zinfandel.
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1992 Arrowood Merlot was my lightning bolt red wine.
I have an affinity for Chateau St. Jean and Arrowood…as my dad, who passed away in 2010, used to live a couple miles down the road from those wineries, before they moved to Nevada in 2004. When we visited, we would always hit those! 
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Same here but solely due to taste
- 1994 Chateau St. Jean Cabernet Sauvignon Cinq Cépages - USA, California, Sonoma County (7/16/2024)
From my late father’s cellar, this was bought on release, was stored very well, and had a perfect cork. All that said I was a little apprehensive on first pour, as it was a touch muddy. I need not have worried, as after an hour of air it tightened up, and began to display much clearer Cabernet Sauvignon character. More tertiary on the nose than the palate, cedar, earth, and a touch of vanilla aromas give way to dark currant fruit and then tobacco, cedar, warm earth, and old oak on the palate. The structure is more acid than tannin, so I think drinking up is a good idea. Get while the getting is tasty.
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Love it! Still have some 91/96 left. Great wines.
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I love reading these tasting notes David!..It brings me back in time to my formative years just starting to drink “fine wines”, and begin building a cellar…where did your Dad live? He literally bought so many of the same wines and vintages I bought back in the day from Wine Library, Gary’s Wine (and other local NJ shops), and other shops not far away…your Dad had good taste!
When he bought this he lived in Connecticut, but bought most of his wine at Table & Vine (and back then Town & Country before T&V bought them) in Massachusetts. Later moved to Virginia but mostly bought DTC or in D.C.
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Interested in this. Did you stand up for a period of time then decant off of sediment or decant from a cradle? That’s my standard practice. Also, I noticed that the cork came out pretty well. I always use the Durand for this era of CA wines. I’ve had tons of corks crumble or break across different producers, from my cellar or my dad’s since release, or purchased at auction. Given that you are delving into this era, have you noticed that? I haven’t used anything but a Durand since I bought one a decade ago or so.
Oh, and thinks again for this thread. I really love it.
Hi Nathan - I stood this bottle up for over a month, and then decanted 2/3 of the bottle. I did in fact use the Durand to open it, though in general I have not had issues with corks on the California Cabernets that I have opened. Heck, when I did that bunch of early to mid-1990s top end Cabs for my tasting group back in March 2023 every single cork was perfect and came out properly with just an Ah-So. I have had lots of difficult/impossible 1990s-era corks (a few have even defeated the Durand) with European wines from non-Bordeaux/Burgundy.
I am glad that people are enjoying this thread. It’s both fun and cathartic at the same time. In some small way I am sad that most of the obviously dead wines have been dealt with. There’s still a few more, but they will have to wait for my next trip south to see mom.
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No surprise this was good. As you probably know 94 was a big vintage in California, much hyped by Parker and the Wine Spectator’s Jim Laube on release. Our tasting group recently had Shafer HSS, Phelps Insignia and Colgin 94s, all were great albeit quite ripe.
Indeed.
I have had several other excellent/outstanding 1994s, including that Insignia!
I agree - nearly every 94 I’ve had, including Mondavi reserve and Montelena, have been outstanding and definitely in the ‘more traditional’ Napa style rather than what most have been since later in the 90s . . .
Thanks for sharing these with all of us - it’s been fun being on this culling journey with you.
Cheers
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I can imagine, David. I lost my mother-in-law unexpectedly a year ago, and we were close. We enjoyed a lot of wine together. But two years before she passed she gave me a bottle of scotch. Now, I don’t even drink the stuff, so it just sat there for most of this time.
You can imagine that I’ll now have a sip from time to time, and nothing is sweeter. But I don’t ever want it to end…
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If you did an Instagram vlog, you’d probably have thousands of followers
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My aunt passed unexpectedly 11 years ago, shortly after I bought my first home and when I started collecting. She effectively raised me and enjoyed wine/cocktails very much. I could always enjoy a glass with her at home, when we would go out to dinner or on a family vacation. She was my best friend and we also became neighbors when I purchased my home. We even had a gate installed on our shared fence line so we could easily drop by one another’s home.
I have spent many occasion enjoying a wonderful wine thinking how much she would have loved it and how fun it would have been to share it with her. Id often stare at the gate between our fence line day dreaming of her walking over to come join me.
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Oddly enough, the Mrs. and I were just talking about Table & Vine. We would go once or twice a year, and would make sure to have a sweatshirt or sweater in the car for the (long) visit. There is a store near us which is as interesting – albeit not as cold – Corti Bros. I suggested come the holiday season we just go there and buy totally random apertifs and aqvavits for the smorgasbord this year.
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