A friend just bought a 69 Ingelnook what are the odds that it’s still alive?
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I had a '79 Chalone Estate back in 2004. It was damn good.
From a big tasting a couple of year’s ago. The other co-WOTN was the 74 Marthas.
1968 Hanzell Pinot Noir. Chuck, our host’s, comment was “Holy Shit!” This is one of the most amazing tasting experiences of my life. The vines are supposedly from DRC via the Martin Ray vineyard. Very dark red, no brick on the edges. Unbelievable color for a Pinot this age. Game, rich spicy fruit. Very youthful, still some tannin. Long sweet finish of caramel, some mint. Tobacco and spice on the nose that opened more and more over the next hour. Remarkable wine and one of the most amazing old wine experiences I’ve had. 98 pts and co-WOTN.
I’m not betting your Inglenook will be that good!
I’ve had a '64 BV that was drinkable…nothing that I would seek out though.
That sounds amazing. If the Inglenook has a heartbeat my buddy will be happy.
I’ve had old (60’s and 70’s) Hanzell’s and Sterlings that have been excellent. Could be a crap shoot because of storage issues etc over the past 40 years, but maybe you’ll get lucky. Post a note after you drink it if you write one.
66 Mirassau - still fighting but very tired (2-3 years ago)
67 Charles Krug - rustic, balanced with some fruit (2-3 years ago)
68 BV Pinot - I couldn’t believe it was still alive, secondary and tertiary notes (2-3 years ago)
68 Inglenook…alive and very well, stole the show IMHO when we had it at Buzz’s house. (4-5 months ago)
74 and 79 Mount Eden…amazing stuff courtesy of Ray Walker (2-3 years ago)
79 Calera’s - Reed, Jenzen, and the Mt. Harlan - remarkably youthful (2 years ago)
80 Chalone - see Calera above (2 years ago)
81 Cronin - it was still kickin that night (2-3 years ago)
When I worked for the Pacific Dining Car in the early 90’s, they had LOTS of Santa Cruz Mountain area Pinots going back in to the 70’s plus Hanzel and other pioneers. I have had both BV and Martini from 60’s that were fine.
Joseph Swan Pinot Noir 1974. Great bottle of wine
Oldest I’ve had was '74 Mount Eden, which was interesting but not great.
'77 Chalone was wonderful though.
I have some '68 BV, which I believe is supposed to be one of the three great vintages of that wine (along with '46 and '47), but haven’t tried it yet.
Cheers,
-Robert
For what it’s worth, the 68 we had 5 months ago showed nicely.
I had a '67 earlier this year that was still going!
We shall see. I think he’s going to pop it with family. I will follow up with a report.
Lot’s of really fun sounding wines posted above- Thanks.
Had a 1973 Swan Estate back in March … it was ethereal. A great bottle of wine, still very much alive … but it hadn’t traveled but 50 feet or so since it was bottled. Thanks to Rod’s generosity, I was able to taste it.
When Roy H. put together that big Hanzell affair in Seattle I got to taste their 1965 Pinot Noir. That’s the oldest Cali PN for me. This was my tasting note at the time:
1965 Hanzell Vineyards Pinot Noir
Winemaker Michael Terrien brought this piece of history with him. 1965. Wow.
The color was a glorious light ruby without as much rim as you would expect from a wine this old. The aromas of bone marrow, iodine, brisket, crushed tart cherries and a wee bit of mushroom really made me sit up and take notice. The wine had a mouth-watering amount of acidity and very rich flavors of smoky bacon fat, dark cherry, plum and a bit of orange peel. This initial bottling was made with 100% new oak (as opposed to the roughly 25% new French oak that Michael rotates in today) and the original alcohol level was 13%. Michael Terrien commented that he had now tried five bottles of the 1965 and this was his favorite version so far. Bravo! (1)
'68 Martin Ray that was way past it. Only the acid remained.
'80 Cronin Ventana Vineyard that utterly rocked, and a few others from the 80s with varying results.
And the odd Santa Cruz Mountain Vineyard - no specific dates spring to mind, but Jeff opens library wines from time to time.
Recall someone bringing a '75 Mondavi PN to a gathering last December that was interesting but well past its prime.
Camping in the mountains with some non wine friends of the Mrs. last summer and at their cabin we found a '87 Seghesio PN (with a $5.99 price sticker) in their refrigerator (prob been there 15+ years). I recall it was drinkable but fell apart about 30 mins in.
YES…that was killer!
1968 Inglenook Pinot Noir Red Pinot - USA, California, Napa Valley, Rutherford (3/2/2009)Big Boy tasting (Buzzini House): What a shocker! Alive and SUPER tasty! First thing I noticed was a funky smoky electrical fire thing going on…not off putting, but intriguing. Tons of raspberry, plum, rhubarb fruit…still sweet…complexities of dusty dirty spice, soy sauce, old leather, potpourri florals, wet leaves. Wonderful alive crancherry acidity…amazing balance. Who would have thought? This wine almost stole the show from the Screagle/Harlan and others in the day…Great wine!!! (94 pts.)
Had an 81’ Swan RRV that Phil Franks brought to our Champagne Offline and everyone seemed to like it very much.
Was that one mine? I was reading this trying to remember the year but I thought it was a 64 or 66. It’s still in the cellar filled with water controling the cooling unit. Suppose I could have Stef go take a look.