Wow! I usually have pretty high expectations when I’m opening a Kalin, but this pretty much blew me away! I have two bottles in the cellar and this one had some past seepage so figured it was probably time to open it up. It poured a golden amber color, which combined with the seepage, had me a little worried how it would show, but one taste and all my concerns were immediately erased. Slight bit of petrol on the nose but it’s absolutely beautiful in the mouth with honey tinged lemon-curd, sour citrus, and waves of acidity on the long finish. It literally glides across your palate with a rare combination of fruit/sweetness/sour notes and a ‘weightless-ness’ that is truly special. Pure joy and an absolute pleasure to open up on Memorial Day. As always….and extra point for being a birth-year wine. @William_Kelley
Not at all surprised it still held up well, Rich.
As I recall, that was from an old R Vnyd way up in Potter Vlly.
Tom
Really nice
Apex post. One of my all-time favorite California producers, so rare and hard to find now.
Just confirmed this is from BJL vineyards on the north side of Potter Valley. Good friend of mine.
Normally that color would be very troubling. I had a '75 or '76 Phelps Special Select Late Harvest (their TBA-clone) that was even more dark amber than that, but it was pretty fantastic. It is pretty cool when there is still freshness despite the evidence of age.
Cheers,
fred
Very cool Casey!! Do they still grow riesling on the vineyard? If so, i wonder who’s using the fruit?
Yep, i totally agree! The color and seepage had me a little worried… but it turned out just fine 
Oh it’s all been pulled and planted to Pinot and Chard…signs of the times.
Thanks for the update, Rich.
I just checked my 89 Phelps Special Select LH and my 86 Santino “T.B.A.”(Totally Botrytis Affected) Riesling, both have deepened in color, but thru the brown bottle, not seriously.
As the Chair of the Microbiology Dept at CAL, my two word summary for Kalin wines is
“Terry knew.”
I sold lots of his wines starting in the mid 80s. The winery was about one mile as the crow flies from my home. Interestingly, it was across the street from Martine’s offices and warehouse.
Who’d a thunk that warehouse district was so vinously gifted? No signs out front at either location, no indication of winemaking except for the hoses between the Kalin warehouses.
So awesome Richard! I would have loved to try these wines in their youth!
I am not sure how long Terry was the Chair of the Microbiology Dept, I figured he had tremendous depth/insight into winemaking.
He had a great sense of humor and I miss his laugh.
He cared so much about how his wines were received, eventually, he took on the extra storage costs of sitting on past vintages until he thought they were ready to be released and had developed some of their anticipated complexities.
Bravo!