I met some friends for dinner last night, and the loose theme was “wines that really need to be drunk.” We ended up having a mini-Mondavi Cabernet vertical. From memory:
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1974 Mondavi Reserve Cabernet. All three bottles had good fills, and
the color on this wine was a bit darker and more purplish than the other two. A classic combination of cassis/blackberry, cedar, and a bit of earth throughout. A strong midpalate that softened up a bit with
aeration, leading to a moderate amount of fine, rounded tannins. I think this wine is past its prime (for my tastes), but it still provides plenty of pleasure. Although this wasn’t my bottle, this was one of the first wines I tasted when I first got into wine with a winetasting class. -
1979 Mondavi Cabernet (regular). One of the first bottles in my
collection, with a fill still just into the neck. Compared to the 74, it
wasn’t as complex, but overall it was more rounded. Much better with
food than without, and certainly mature–drink up. A few people at the
table preferred it to the 74 Reserve; I wasn’t one of them. -
1980 Mondavi Reserve Cabernet. Flat, thin, and dull. Essentially
shot, and never really showed anything worth drinking. Played with it
for about 30 minutes, and then dumped.
Bruce