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2002 La Chablisienne Chablis Grand Cru Les Preuses - France, Burgundy, Chablis, Chablis Grand Cru (10/14/2009)
Full yellow gold in color. The nose has sulfur and apples. Just a touch of oxidation. On the palate, this is soft but tart. Slightly bitter (oxidized) with apples on the palate. Long finish. I think this has started down the road to PreMox and was luckily opened at this time. (89 pts.) -
2002 Mount Eden Vineyards Chardonnay Estate Bottled Santa Cruz Mountains - USA, California, San Francisco Bay, Santa Cruz Mountains (10/14/2009)
Deep golden in color. (I thought perhaps a mid to late 90’s). Not much fruit left here, but it had a nice complexity. Lots of mienrals and still oak left. I expected better from this wine, at least in terms of fruit:oak. Still, it had some quality on the palate. Was this bottle representative? 50+2+11+18+6=87 (87 pts.) -
1987 Livingston Moffett Cabernet Sauvignon Moffet - USA, California, Napa Valley (10/14/2009)
I liked this one more than the group. Spice, black raspberry notes on the nose. The palate was a bit jammy and muddled but still had a lot of sweet fruit. Plenty of tannins left. I am not sure what the group didn’t like as much about this wine. I thought it was in a great place. Lovely texture and complexity. Also some cofee and chocolate notes, especially on the finish. (92 pts.) -
1987 Shafer Cabernet Sauvignon Stags Leap District - USA, California, Napa Valley, Stags Leap District (10/14/2009)
I also liked this far more than the group but I understood that. It is showing some age and much less exuberant. More about leather and spcie than fruit at this time. Still, I loved the texture (I think this matters to me more than the group) and the complexity. Nice finish. Past prime slightly and I would drink up. (90 pts.) -
1990 Chateau Montelena Cabernet Sauvignon The Montelena Estate - USA, California, Napa Valley (10/14/2009)
Lots of spice and cedar here. Much more advanced than either the 91 or 92 I have had recently. Nice texture but the fruit weas showing more cranberries and boysenberries (think tart/acidity) than I prefer. Lots of tannins still. It got better with about an hour of air as it put on weight. Then started to fade a bit. (90 pts.) -
1968 Beaulieu Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon Georges de Latour Private Reserve - USA, California, Napa Valley (10/14/2009)
Dick was kind enough to share his last bottle of a case bought for him, by his parents, on release. I think this was the third time I had tried it, and this may have been the best bottle. It started out with life and showed like a mature Cab. It faded quickly into a Tawny Port, but was still quite good. Then, it revived back to a blend style of red. No denying the pedigree here and this was very enjoyable. Thanks Dick for a wine that was not only good for its age, but was good! (89 pts.) -
1987 Heitz Cellar Cabernet Sauvignon Martha’s Vineyard - USA, California, Napa Valley, Oakville (10/14/2009)
I certainly hoped for more from this wine. Nice enough but hardly outstanding. Spice and cedar dominate the fruit. Nice to drink but no real complexity. Still some tannins. A good wine but not worth the money being paid IMO. (89 pts.) -
1987 Beaulieu Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon Georges de Latour Private Reserve - USA, California, Napa Valley (10/14/2009)
This was showing some age. The nose has spice, nutmeg, dill and hints of cassis. It had sweet fruit but the American oak was eprvasive at this point. Most of the group liked this more than I. still I think this is a good wine albeit past maturity and time to drink up. Or perhaps, I just am not as enamoured with this style. (88 pts.) -
1987 Freemark Abbey Cabernet Sauvignon Sycamore Vineyards - USA, California, Napa Valley (10/14/2009)
I thought this wine to be ever so mildly corked. While that was in dispute, there is no denying that this was also the WOTN. Everyone had it in their top 3. It also had a touch of brett. So how does such a flawed wine become WOTN? It had superb texture, and complexity. While I got little fruit on the nose, the palate was excellent. I went back and forth with how to rate this, or should I? Eventually, I had it as my #3 wine, it was still simply that good. I did have trouble with the nose, and it got worse to me as the night went on. I think I am very sensitive and most of the group either disagreed or just did not pick it up. In any event a fantastic wine. NR (flawed) -
1995 Château Coutet - France, Bordeaux, Sauternais, Barsac (10/14/2009)
Light golden in color. A nose of apples and orange peel. more oranges and honey also on the palate. Really a nice wine and still drinking young. Nice acidity. Complex. Delicious. (95 pts.) -
N.V. Yalumba Antique Tawny Museum Reserve - Australia, South Eastern (10/14/2009)
Amber in color with slight ruby hues. The nose has some toffee and maple syrup (should have been a give away that this was an Oz sticky). Unctuous texture. Enough acidity to keep this from being cloying. This is really quite tasty and a great finisher. (93 pts.)
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