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TN Clos Du Val Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon 1978

The Clos Du Val Napa Valley Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon 1978, 13.3% alcohol, was properly stored since release. The fill was high, and the cork was still very good and firm.

This wine likely is at the peak, but it could easily last 10 or more years before drying out too much. The color is still quite deep with only a little age showing around the rim. It is a fairly typical classic Napa in character. It has very intense cassis and other dark fruit, an a touch of the typical Napa herbal character. There is a bit of mixed spice. The extract is high, but not overblown. There is enough acid. The medium tannins are now well resolved. The oak is under control. The aftertaste is very long. It is not hot as so many

70s California wines were, perhaps because of the 13.3% alcohol content rather than 16% or more you sometimes found in the 70s. It is a step up from the 1974 regular, which still is a very good wine. It must be near the top of 1970s California CS at the present time.
Reply to
cwdjrxyz
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Nice tasting notes. I haven't had this wine in 10 years but my notes show it to be one of the better '78 Cabs from CA.

Reply to
Lawrence Leichtman

Wow! Thanks for the note. I had this wine in a group tasting back in '82 or so. At that time, I was less impressed with it than some of the other wines present ('77 Conn Creek Lot 2, '78 Mondavi Reserve, '78 Caymus Estate, '78 Ch. Montelena). Alas, this was from a time when I didn't take notes, so I can't be any more specific, but suffice it to say that my tastes have changed since that time and the wines have, too! I have had the '78 Montelena not so long ago, and it was still amazingly youthful and primary.

Mark Lipton

Reply to
Mark Lipton

I would love to hear how you think the Caymus is doing. I still have

4 bottles. I have 6 of the Monte Bello, but like you I am not too worried about it. My experience has been that Monte Bello's last a VERY long time. Jim
Reply to
Jim Mehl

The Caymus will be opened at our wine group's July tasting night the theme is late '70's California Cabs. Also, bringing a Dunn 1978.

Reply to
Lawrence Leichtman

You guys are making me intensely jealous. Reading about those late

70's vintages from Conn Creek, To Kalon, Monte Bello, etc... Great vineyards, great wines. Haven't had any of those late 70's wines for many years now. Boo hoo .....
Reply to
AxisOfBeagles

That should make for an amusing comparison since IIRC Randy Dunn made both wines that year.

Mark Lipton

Reply to
Mark Lipton

It just a matter of buying them new and sitting tight for many years. You can start now and you will have them. They don't have to be stored perfectly just the best least variable cool area. I did not have any type of real cellaring just a coolish closet that didn't change temperature much all year long. 99% of the wines I stored that way are still great after nearly 30 years in storage. It also requires infinite patience as the temptation is to open them way to soon. For example, I opened a Dunn Howell Mountain after only 10 years after opening the first bottle. I will never make that mistake again as they are too tannic to drink for 15 years +. So patience is the way to have old bottles. And if you think a wine is going to be a good ager buy at least

  1. This obviously precludes most 1st growth Bordeaux's but maybe 2nd or down. Remember, if it is %125-150 now in 10-15 years when is wonderful it may cost 0+ to buy the same bottle.
Reply to
Lawrence Leichtman

Yes same wine maker different fruit.

Reply to
Lawrence Leichtman

Reply to
AxisOfBeagles

I have a few bottles of 1985 Dunn Howell Mountain Cab that I will never live long enough to open. The last bottle I opened about three years ago hadn't begun to shed any tannin and won't be ready to drink much before 2050.....

Reply to
Bi!!

"Bi!!" in news: snipped-for-privacy@q75g2000hsh.googlegroups.com :

Sounds like Ridge Monte Bello.

Fans of that wine have been known, on reaching a certain age, to renounce buying any more of it, on actuarial grounds.

Reply to
Max Hauser

At age 55 I've started to pare back on wines that I know won't be ready to drink until I'm 80 or older. I hope to still be here enjoying wine but I am a realist.

Reply to
Bi!!

Max, What is your take on those who say that MB has undergone a stylistic change since '90? I don't have enough first-hand experience to say one way or another, but people like you and Claude K. are well positioned (IMO) to weigh in on this issue.

Mark Lipton

Reply to
Mark Lipton

I'm 60 and feel the same way. I'm not enthusiastic about leaving great wines to my kids who don't really appreciate them.

Reply to
Lawrence Leichtman

Ask me in 2015 when the first ones may be ready to drink. ;-)

I don't know, Mark -- in two senses: First I have not noticed a conspicuous change, second I have not heard the comments you allude to. (References?)

I've bought that wine on and off since the '80 vintage but I don't taste it often enough to say offhand. One of the tasting groups has some deeply involved members who have followed this wine a very long time. PD graciously joins sometimes if we are tasting that wine, and comments on his wines. All blind tastings, of course. PD catches the vintage at once, at a sniff, but then he knows these wines better than anyone else. (He usually comments a bit on the features of the vintage, at that point.) I've posted results of one or more of these tastings, but I don't recall if they spanned before and after 1990. Certainly, some of the early 1990s MBs drink impressively now. Always, lots of concentration, lots of wood ... Claude K. is in another tasting group, and I don't recall whether he follows that wine -- mostly we taste and talk about Burgundies.

Again, I'm interested in more info about the style assertion (here or by email).

Reply to
Max Hauser

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