I haven’t had 70 Mouton in about 8 years but it was very strong then. Palmer is going strong now. Other successes over the past couple years: Magdelaine, Figeac. Pape Clement, Domaine de Chevalier (from bottle and magnum), Lafleur Petrus, VCC, and Ducru.
70 Tondonos GR is awesome but very expensive now. 70 Imperial and Vina Real GR have been more variable but sound bottles are delicious.
By starting this thread…me thinks that I’ve just increased the average selling price of older CA wines on WineBid.
Shit.
As individual bottles this age do vary, these are not necessarily in order of preference.
God I love 70’s California Cabernet…
1970 Gemello
1971 Ridge Eisele
1974 Conn Creek Eisele
1974 Heitz Martha’s Vineyard
1971 Ridge Monte Bello
1975 Phelps Eisele
1976 Phelps Insignia (50% Eisele fruit)
1978 Heitz Martha’s Vineyard
1978 Phelps Eisele
1978 Chateau Montelena Napa
In the last couple of years, I have had Latour, Haut Brion, Leoville Poyferre and Lynch Bages. All in great shape. We had the 1970 Lynch Bages side by side with a 1982 Lynch Bages and the 70 blew the 82 away. And, I love the 82. I have also had a 1970 Figeac that was dead.
Were your Mouton and Palmer wines you bought young and stored or that you bought later (or whoever brought them bought them later). Wonder if storage was optimum, although I must admit I have not had these wines in a long time. Loved the Palmer back in the day.
Another vintage from the 70s in Bordeaux that nobody discusses is 1975. There are a handful of 75s that are drinking beautifully right now, including the Pichon Lalande and the Leoville las Cases.
I had the '70 Lynch Bages in the mid-1980s in a .375. It was MY introduction to mature, ass-kicking Bordeaux.
This is a great list! I forgot about that Gemello. Man, what a great list…have had most if not all of these, but some years ago.
I looked at winebid, something I rarely do, and it seems as all the 70s have ullage issues except a 1970 Beerenauslese at 165$…should be great.
Matt s list does not include any Mondavi, Stag s Leap, Diamond Creek,Clos du Val, Chappellet, Shafer…
A chacun son egout, they say
Howard Mel and Barry, regarding thread drift: 1970 mouton was an closed, tight wine for way too many years, a very hard sell in the 80’s, a “trust me” wine for those ITB. 1970 Lynch was a bit monolithic to my palate, a big powerful wine, but I have not had it in a long time, showing complexities now?
Matt, thank for the Montelena clarification, the Sonoma was not in the same league and I do not think too many folks are aware of the twins that vintage and back to 1976–was that the Jordan Vineyard?
I need to add 1976 Insignia to my previous list.
That Davis Cellar(WB Day 2017) provided me with a mag of 1970 Louis Martini Special Selection Cab with the loose fitting funky ass red aluminum foil capsule I have seen and sold decades ago, high expectations as per current reviews; BTW, a neck fill. Yay!
Richard, that is certainly my view. Wonderful mature wine.
That’s a really good one. I might have to say the 1973 Swan Estate … first vintage. I had it once, out of magnum, and it was jaw-droppingly spectacular.
That 78 Montelena is AWESOME.
Matt:
The '76 Insignia has 94% Eisele CS. It was the '77 Insignia that initiated the Bordeaux blend concept (rather than bottling the best wine from any particular vintage) with 50% CS, 30% Merlot and 20% CF. The first three Insignias were: '74 Steltzner CS, '75 Stanton Merlot and '76 Eisele CS.
I recall the 70 Mouton as going through a Brett bloom in the 80s so I put it away for fifteen years.
Of course when I bought it I thought Brett played for the Royals
Enjoyed some ‘78s a few nights ago. Ridge York Creek and Phelps Bachus. While both were fantastic, the York Creek was absolutely singing. I’ve had that vintage of York Creek 6 times and it just gets better and better.
Craig,
Thanks for the correction on the 76 Insignia. I opened a mag for a dinner 2 weeks ago and it was singing! Also, forgot the 78 Shafer and the 78 Milt Eisele Vineyard bottling on my list…
Hello all, I’m new to the forum as of today and in full transparency signed up because while passing through Eugene Oregon I stopped at a local high end grocery store and found a bottle of 1978 Diamond Creek Volcanic Hill.
As this being my first time as a poster I do not want to break any of the rules of the site, I apologise now but frankly my only question is…is it worth spending $260 on this bottle that from the outside is in pristine condition l?
Thanks for indulging a wino moron 
another vote for the 1970 BV Georges…Went through a case of it as well as a case of the regular BV cab…Wld have voted for either the 68 Heitz Martha or the 68 BV PR except that they were pre 1970
Very likely worth it. I’ve been tempted to buy it myself.
I have never had the wine, but by reputation alone, I would say that if you can afford it, it’s worth it if you can get some comfort on the quality of 40 years of storage. Every old Diamond Creek I have had was wonderful and if that A-hole who keeps spiking me at auction would eat sh*t and die, maybe I would own some. I lost out on another bid last week. PS - Welcome to the lunatic asylum.
I prefer the 77’ Spring Mountain over 78’. However, I purchased a mag of 79’ from library which I’ll have next year to celebrate my 40th. I hear that is the best of the 70s…we’ll see…