So my neighbor wanted to share this '74 BV with me. Story is that it was found under his brother's summer cabin in Eastern Washington. So passive storage a concern, but the ullage was perfect. So I decided to toss in a (100-pt Galloni) Vine Hill Ranch to repay him for the Dana Estates he shared with us a few weeks ago and include my last '92 Pride cab to put the '74 into perspective. He brought along the Obelisco and, later, pulled out the Shafer for drinking around the campfire. (Good wine, bad idea--too much!)
2005 Shafer Cabernet Sauvignon One Point Five Stags Leap District
Lambert's bottle. Not decanted or otherwise prepped; poured at the fire pit and it was the 5th bottle of the night. As such my observation skills were somewhat impaired, but the juicy ripe-vintage fruit was immediately apparent. Could be at peak but could have some upside surprises to come for people like me who enjoy tertiary stage wines.
2016 Obelisco Estate Cabernet Sauvignon Nefer III Obelisco Estate Vineyard Red Mountain
Not decanted. Almost opaque purple-black. Blackberry and black currant flavors with a bit of mocha frappe; viscuous on the palate. Strangely, zero tannins until much later, and the smoothness was eerie. Texturally the opposite of what I hope for especially at this price, more a cocktail wine than a food wine. I shudder to think of anyone buying this in order to sample Red Mountain greatness--this is very atypical.
2018 Vine Hill Ranch Cabernet Sauvignon VHR Oakville
This is one of the most captivating young Napa cabernets I can remember having--impeccable balance and sophistication without an overload of oak or other manipulations. It earns the scores. Btw, I read thru all the notes here before deciding how to prep it and decided to err on the side of a splash decant. The result of pouring off (yes there was some sediment) 80% of it, filtering the remainder then adding all back to the cleaned bottle and recorking about two hours before service was perfect. The wine was fresh and accessible, and we drank it over two hours without the tannins clamping down. Outstanding.
1992 Pride Mountain Vineyards Cabernet Sauvignon Napa Valley
Deep ruby color, youthful nose of black cherry, cedar and tobacco. Tannins are silky but very much alive, and the oak's integrated well. Mouthfeel and finish are excellent--better even than the last one we opened a few months ago. Excellent, and there's still a lot of room on the runway.
1974 Beaulieu Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon Georges de Latour Private Reserve Napa Valley
Weren't sure what to expect but it was delightful. Ullage like a brand new bottle. Decanted to remove sediment (not much!) and served immediately. Tawny red color, orange rim. Caramel nose with ranier cherry fruit, delicate but haunting, and it actually improved over the course of the evening. Not as youthful as some 74's I've had in the not-too-disant past--Heitz Martha's and Mayacamas come to mind--but damn, it's hanging in there! Excellent for its age though visually and tastewise the obvious senior in the group.
2016 Bevan Ontogeny
So I opened this initially to pair with the VHR, and hated it. In a very poor place for current drinking: strong, extracted, sappy/jammy--tastes very manipulated. Like a Caymus on steroids, which it might be but anything that might otherwise make it taste like real wine (or what I thought our last bottle tasted like a year ago) is asleep at the moment. So I corked it back up and went for the Pride instead. Retasted it two days later--no improvement. Never again, Russ, never again.