1982 Inglenook / Rubicon Estate / Niebaum-Coppola Rubicon- USA, California, Napa Valley, Rutherford (7/11/2014)
Tasted as a mystery wine slipped in to a tasting of 1982 Bordeaux. The cork was in perfect shape, with very little wine traveling past the bottom, which is what undoubtedly contributed to the good showing of the wine.
Deep red color with very little color loss. Flavors of chocolate and raspberries with good acidity and tannins. Definitely a different animal than the Bordeaux it was tasted against, which didn’t help the wine during the comparison discussion. But the wine is still in great shape with years of life left. (90 pts.)
We had the 1978 and 1979 a few years back over the course of a long dinner party. Nearly everyone went back & forth during the night about which showed better, both bottles really excellent.
This was back when they held the wines 3-5 years from vintage before release because they were so tannic and hard. Time let them really show what they were made of and their age ability.
One of the things I found really interesting was the quality of the cork when it came out. There was very little creep up the sides, with the rest being perfectly clean. Whoever stored this did a good job, and the winery themselves bought good corks.