During the holidays I met up with some old wine friends and
we tasted through a few 1985 California Cabs. Wines were not served
blind and were decanted prior to tasting.
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1985 Silver Oak Alex
dill, herbal, hints of dark fruit, medium vanilla, cedar nose
light dill, lush fruit, vanilla, dill on finish, vanilla,
silky
Score: C -
1985 Dominus
earthy, very light vanilla, hint of barnyard nose
barnyard, medium body, slightly hard, earth, tannin, light
cherry, opening up now, earth, some fruit
Score: B -
1985 Niebaum Coppola Rubicon
fruity, dusty, cherry, light syrup, hint of chocolate, WOW!,
light mint nose
medium body, dark fresh cherry, lightly tart, no noticable
tannin, lightly tart on finish, tart fading as it sits in
glass
Score: A- -
1985 Simi Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon
light asparagus but not unpleasant, light tobacco, asparagus
fading nose
dark fruit, light-medium tannins, hint of oak, vanilla,
chocolaty, light cigar box, light veggie
Score: B-
Commentary:
I simply could not get past the dill characteristic in the Silver
Oak. I found it unpleasant. Others in the tasting felt it wasn’t a big
drawback. A C score is perhaps a bit high but I realize that the dill
really turned me off but everything else seemd ok.
I was certain, early on in the tasting, that the Dominus had no
hope. It was too hard, and the fruit wasn’t there, to support further
aging. I felt it would just become harder and the fruit would entirely
disappear. But after an hour or so it really started to open up. It
showed some fruit, softened a bit and suprised me. Certainly not one
for drinking now IMVHO but it may benefit from further aging. Try
again in 3 years? I’m not positive but I’m not ready to write it off
just yet. These notes are consistent with my notes from 6-7-99 when I
did a vertical of Dominus. In that case I only had a 2 oz pour and
didn’t have time to let it sit. The hardness of the wine then made me
rate it a B- but this just goes to show you that a full flight of 10+
wines in 2 hours doesn’t give you an accurate picture of the true wine
in the glass, only a quick snapshot. I gave today’s Dominus a B- as
well until it opened up to receive a B.
The Rubicon was the wine of the night. Beautiful. GREAT nose,
complex, and ready to drink. It did benefit from a bit of air to get rid
of the initial tartness.
I’ve never had a Simi and was not too impressed. The asparagus, which
normally just turns me off, wasn’t too bad. Certainly the dill in the
SO was worse. Nothing special here IMVHO. A nice drink but not worth
seeking out.