'96 Spottswoode cab - closed?

I dumped a case of Spottswoode and swore off of it forever. It was unapproachable for 12 or more years and then it was totally dead.

Hmmm, interesting. Which vintage? I have enjoyed 4 or 5 nice vintages. Aside from the '97 this past May, the '96 was the next youngest. The '97, though not shutdown at the time, was clearly not out of its infancy. The '93 that night was showing nicely.

I think it was about 85. I ordered a case of Forman and Dunn and the wholesaler I was buying from through the Spottswoode in because it had a very high rating from Parker. If I were in Maryland, I could look at my Forman and tell you what year it was.

The most fun I had with a case was the Copala Rubicon the first year it was out ( I think around 78 ) I ended up with two cases of it and it was totally unapproachable for 12 years and then it came around. The 13th year was stupendous. Somewhat the same happened with the 77 Jordan (2nd year it was out) but it held on nicely after it matured and is still showing very well.

I've never known what the attraction of Spottswoode was. It has been called the Lafite of California. I've had several vintages--'84, '86, '87, '93, '94--and they were all unimpressive. When they failed to produce an interesting Cab in '94 I gave up on them.