TN: 1987 Tahbilk Cabernet Sauvignon

1987 Tahbilk Cabernet Sauvignon - been doing a bit of cellar sweeping lately to get to some of the older wines that may or may not be sound. Came across this singleton and popped the cork. I'd owned it since release and had gone through the rest of the half case in the 90s, but somehow forgot about this one. The colour was surprisingly good, a tad pinot-ish, and the nose was a mellow varietal cab with a vanilla oak hint - they used to use American oak and still use some along with French oak today so not sure what they were using on this one. Surprisingly decent fruit and soft tannins with a medium length finish.

Proof that you should never toss questionable bottles without tasting! Had some Spanish Garnacha from Navarre that I tried earlier this week and the three bottles ended up in the stew making bin after tasting - not bad but a faded presentation of what it had been - and it was only 20 years old.

1987 Tahbilk Cabernet Sauvignon
Proof that you should never toss questionable bottles without tasting!

Of course. How often do you toss bottles without even tasting them?

For me, the tougher question is how quickly to decide that a bottle is not going to provide pleasure and something else should be opened. Depending on the wine, often air does wonders, and then it's a waste to have more wine open that I won't finish. But, also not fun to slog through something unenjoyable.