1984 Vintage Wines

I have a friend who is turning 21 soon and I'd like to serve a 1984 vintage wine for her birthday dinner. Being that 1984 was an awful vintage for Bordeaux (Although $130 for an 84 Margaux was a bit tempting), I've concentrated on California. I would be open to other regions, but the availability of 84 wines is pretty limited. Some names caught my eye, Dominus, Silver Oak, and Montelena. Any suggestions on these or others, sub-$150? And how high is the risk of buying wines of this age from well-known retailers?

Thanks, Andrew

Reply to
Andrew Greene
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In September 2000, I had the good fortune to drink from magnums of both Ch. Montelena and Silver Oak from 1974. Montelena was the hands-down winner.

Dana

Reply to
Dana H. Myers

] I have a friend who is turning 21 soon and I'd like to serve a 1984 vintage ] wine for her birthday dinner. Being that 1984 was an awful vintage for ] Bordeaux (Although $130 for an 84 Margaux was a bit tempting), I've ] concentrated on California. I would be open to other regions, but the ] availability of 84 wines is pretty limited. Some names caught my eye, ] Dominus, Silver Oak, and Montelena. Any suggestions on these or others, ] sub-$150? And how high is the risk of buying wines of this age from ] well-known retailers? ] ] Thanks, ] Andrew ]

Hi Andrew,

I've had an '84 Burgess recently that was excellent. Should be available for well less than US$150, if you can find it. As for risk, well known and better retailers have temperature control, and can trace the provenance of the wine. If your source can't do that, it's a bit of a crap shoot.

-E

Reply to
Emery Davis

^^ ||

???

M.

Reply to
Michael Pronay

I've had the Dominus & Montelena '84, but probably not recently enough to help much. Both were excellent. One producer, whose '84 was drinking well recently was Diamond Creek. I had a horizontal of all but the Lake Vineyard (don't know if one was produced in '84). Prices were in the US$150/btl range, which is about what the DC's of the 90's were running at retail. Seems that K&L had some DC '84 for ~US$125. Maybe a look at their Web site can yield some real finds.

Hunt

Reply to
Hunt

'84 was a very ripe, fruit-forward year and its wines aged faster than many expected. At this date, I'd stick with the known long-agers: Montelena, Ridge Monte Bello and Dunn Howell Mountain. All of them can be found for just under $150 if you look with

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As for storage, ask the retailer about the provenance of the bottle in question. Any hesitation or equivocation should be viewed as a warning sign.

Mark Lipton

Reply to
Mark Lipton

I was just commenting on my (limited) experience with the relative longevity of the Cabs from those two wineries. 1984 is different than

1974, sure, but the winemaking styles of the two wineries were probably similar in 1984 to what they were in 1974.

Cheers, Dana

Reply to
Dana H. Myers

Oh, I see, thank you.

M.

Reply to
Michael Pronay

Recently had the '84 Montelena - highly recommended !

Reply to
bob becker

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