Both wines were bought soon after release and stored properly. Fills were still in the neck and there were no cork or other issues.
Heitz Cellar Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon, Martha's Vineyard 1976. This wine is still very intense in color, showing just a bit of age around the rim. It has been about the same for several years now and likely will hold well for several more years. No oxidation is apparent. The wine has rounded well with age and developed considerable complexity with still enough fruit. Tannins are now under control. Th balance is very good, and the finish is long.
Chateau Laville-Haut-Brion 1978 likely is at the peak, but likely will hold very well for more than 10 years. It is very pale lemon color. The balance is now near perfect. There is still good fruit, and the wine has smoothed out with age. A hint of honeycomb wax, without sweetness, has developed. The finish is long. When young this wine only gave hints of what it would become. I started drinking dry white Bordeaux in an era when much of this wine tasted very plain, did not last well, and reeked of sulfur. After this beginning, it was a very pleasant to find that there are a very few dry white Bordeaux wines that can age well and in time develop into one of the great wines of France. Unfortunately, there is very little of this class of wine, and today you have to pay a very high price if you can find it at all. For me this wine matches very well with classic seafood dishes with rich sauces.