Could a 1976 Cabernet Sauvignon be (very) drinkable?

Yes... if it was from a top producer and stored properly.

Mark Lipton

"Mark Lipton" schrieb:

producer is good, cant say if it was stored properly, might as well give it a shot though (ebay)

jens

Yes, a very few California Cabernet Sauvignons from 1976, and even much earlier, can still be very good if they have been perfectly stored. A few from 1976 that I have tasted within the last few years that were holding well included: Freemark Abbey Bosche, Ridge Monte Bello, Heitz Cellar Martha's Vineyard, and BV Private Reserve. There likely are several others.

I would not buy any wines this old unless I knew that they had been properly stored at a steady temperature of under 60 F, or unless I could taste samples before buying, as you sometimes can at auctions.

I had a Martin Ray 1968 (made by the man Martin Ray, not the more recent winery with that name) within the last year, and it still was holding well. There have been a few published reports of BV Private Reserves from the 50s and even 40s that still were drinking well. But of course only a very few California Cabernets live this long. And then there is Bordeaux, where Cabernet Sauvignon is the major grape in many wines. Chateau Latour sometimes holds well for over 100 years.

Reply to snipped-for-privacy@cwdjr.net .

1976 was a really excellent vintage for Napa and Sonoma Cabernets - possibly other regions too. It was a drought year, so the yields were poor - but the quality was superb!

A few of my favorites were the BV Private Reserve ($16), Caymus Special Selection ($?) and (oddly enough) Pedroncelli (~$6). I haven't tasted any of these recently, but I understand that the BV is still good. If I saw it on the shelf of a reputable proprietor I'd buy it if I could afford to do so.

Although the 1976 Heitz Martha's Vineyard was a decent enough wine, I found it a bit too tannic for the amount of fruit present. I heard at the time that the Bella Oaks (also Heitz) was better, but I've never tasted it. :^(

Tom S

You never know. My cousin's girlfriend gave me a bottle of some inexpensive, obscure wine from the south of France, a 1983. It had not been stored properly-- she lives on Long Island and until recently didn't have central AC.

The wine wasn't great, but it didn't appear to have suffered any damage from the passage of time nor from the heat.

Shaun Eli

Brain Champagne: Clever Comedy for the Smart Mind (sm)

If it's ebay, *ask* how it was stored.

Over the last few years (doesn't hardly qualify as a pronouncement of '76 CA Cabs NOW, but maybe worth noting), I've drained the cellar at a local restaurant of their stock of '76 Inglenook "Reserve" Cabs. Cellar conditions are perfect and their price is very good @~ US$75/btl. All have been excellent with the bottles tasted in 2003 being the best. I have not had any since then, as I drank them all. While probably not the blockbusters from that property in the 50's - 60's, the '76 was still very good. Unfortunately, I didn't taste their stock before 1998, as that is when we moved to AZ. I think this wine would still be holding, perhaps with a bit of slippage, still. If these had been Caymus SS, Ridge MB, or the Heitz MV, I'll bet that they would have been even better.

BTW, who is the producer of the OP's wine? I seem to have missed that.

Hunt

We _all_ missed that because he didn't say. Presented it as hypothetical, but I'll bet he had a specific wine in mind.

Tom S