Last night I thought since it is purchasing season for Mt Eden I would pull an older bottle of the wine from the cellar to have with dinner. I still have some 94 and other vintages of the estate reserve which was made from a certain plot of old vine which now have been replanted. I decided to pass on these and opened instead a 1997 Mt Eden Estate Cabernet.
The 1997 vintage in CA was one the critics hailed. My personal opinion then was that many of the wines were just too fruit forward and when the fruit died the high alcohol background would take over. In this past year many bottles of CA Cabernet from that vintage have reinforced that opinion. Most of these bottles have been made with valley fruit. Mt Eden Estate Cabernets are all Santa Cruz Mountain fruit grown 2,000 feet above sea level.
When I opened it I first noted the thick fine grained sediment on the bottom of the cork. I also noted that there was no seepage on the side of the cork. The first pour of the wine was left in the glasses a few minutes while I plated our dinner. When I brought the glass to my nose I noticed the wine had the typical nose of a wood aged Cab. After a few swirls, I again noticed that the wood aging was still quite apparent. The first sip was a mouthful of tart full fruit with some softened "rough" tannins behind it. I loved it. As the wine open more the wood aged nose and flavors dissipated while the fruit flavors expanded. The mountain fruit tannins also moved to the background but were quite apparent.
Pat at first was put off by the nose and the first flavors of the wine. As the wine opened more however she also became a fan. This wine to me is what I love about aged CA Cabs at their best. It is going to be hard to stay away from the 1990's Mt Eden Cabs! Next time I think I shall decant the wine.
We had this wine with chicken thighs slow baked on a bed of mirepoix with brown butter carrots and parsnips aside. The salad was a simple mixed greens and tomato with a vinaigrette dressing.
The only thing missing were some friends at the table to share the experience.
It ages well, unlike most CA chards.