Another random birthyear Winebid purchase. Never heard of the producer. As a matter of fact, can’t even find them in CT. Anyway. What a pleasant surprise!
Good fill at bottom neck, cork 90% saturated but came out in one piece.
Wine is bright ruby, medium- intensity, just a touch of brown on the rim. Light+ viscosity, not much extract. Nose is developed but still fresh with leather, cedar, red currants, mint, hint of oak, crushed soil, nice medium+ complexity.
Palate is medium+ bodied, fresh, somewhat developed with red berries, cassis, leather, just a hint of mushrooms, . Finishes relatively complex with more of the red-toned fruits, resolved silky tannins and medium length.
Wow what a surprise. What (I think) is a no-name producer from Sonoma Country from over 40 years ago is still not only drinkable, but this is likely on the plateau of peak drinking window. It shows moderate complexity from development but isn’t anywhere near on the downhill.
And the crazy thing is, I paid $25 for this. Sometimes Bacchus does smile at you.
Love this! Can’t tell you how many times ive been pleasantly suprised by random birth-year wines (1980). Case in point, my WOTY a few years ago was a 1980 Nevada City Wine Cellars zin from the Sierra Foothills. Never heard of the winery before and will never find it again…but damn was it delicious!
Golden Creek was hardly a no-name producer! At least not in the 1980s and 1990s. The winery was started by Ladi Danielik, an immigrant from Czechoslovakia. He and his family fled to Austria after the Soviets invaded his country in the 1960s and then moved to New Jersey in the 1970s. Eventually he landed in Sonoma County and purchased a piece of property on Wallace Rd in Riebli Valley, now within the Fountaingrove District AVA, and planted grapes. His real job I recall was a dental tech, designing crowns, dentures, bridges, etc. This provided cash for his winery as I remember him saying wine should be as cheap as milk. And indeed, his wines (Cabernet Sauvignon, Sauvignon Blanc, Merlot, Syrah and a few others) were quite cheap, especially for the outstanding quality they offered. His wines, especially his “Caberlot”, were perennial gold medal winners at the Sonoma County Harvest Fair (may have even been a sweepstakes winner one year) and I recall he sold grapes to at least Gary Farrell (Cabernet Sauvignon) and Robert Rex (for Deerfield Ranch Syrah).
And he did change his label shortly after the 1983 vintage to a much more classic, simple design without any picture of him.