California Red - Well aged

[viejo majadero]

Off and on there has been much discussion about aging of wine and on that subject California Cabernet based Reds versus French Bordeaux. At a recent dinner at An American Grill in Randolph New Jersey my friend and I opened in the course of the evening three well aged Californians.

1st a 1976 Clos du Val

2nd a 1980 Heitz Martha’s Vineyard

3rd a 1984 Ridge Monte Bello

I was amazed at the condition of all three wines. First, only the Clos du Val had heavy tartrate crystalline deposits on the cork. All three corks had wine stain only about as much as one quarter of an inch from the bottom showing ullage has not occurred. All three wines did not show amber around the surface top edge. In terms of future aging I felt that the Clos du Val, light ruby in color, was at full maturity and should be consumed now. The Heitz, inky black, showed enough tannin and fruit to still age for a long while. It was a powerhouse of flavor. The Ridge, deep ruby purple, was to me the most nuanced of the three. It took longer to develop in the carafe and showed more years of life, but I felt will not be as long lived as the Heitz.

In 1994 Robert Parker wrote of the 1984 Ridge Monte Bello, “This blockbuster Cabernet Sauvignon remains closed, with more promise than current appeal. The saturated purple color displays no amber or signs of evolution at the edge. The nose reluctantly offers up pure aromas of black fruits, minerals, and licorice. Extremely full bodied, with layers of rich, glycerin-dominated, sweet jammy fruit buttressed by zesty acidity and abundant tannin, this large-scaled surprisingly well-proportioned and balanced Cabernet Sauvignon requires another 5-8 years of cellaring. It is a candidate for 20-30+ years of longevity. So what’s new?”

If anyone has reviews of the other two wines could you please post them for me I would be very interested. Thanks.

Viejo

[Craig Camp]

They sound like they were in prefect condition. Do you know how they were stored?

[viejo majadero]

Yes.

Since I own the Ridge I can state it was well cellered in mechanically cooled space. i bought the case from another collector properly cellared also.

The other two have not had mechanically cooled conditions but were stored on gravel basements in restaurant and a lake home site. The lake home having high humidity.

Viejo

[ctgm]

I am glad that all the bottles were drinking well. It seems that here in the UK many winos (probably including myself) keep our wine for too long before drinking. Of course I am generalising and also applying this to red Bordeaux. I quite often get served wines going back to 1959 and I can honestly say that most of the wines before 1982 seem to have lost a lot of their fruit. I suppose a certain amount of it is that French wines are now made to drink relatively early on. I will confess to not knowing a huge amount about US wines but I presume that in general they are made in a similar way.

Also one of my favourite wines from the US is the Ridge Zin (both Geyserville and Lyton S). Does anyone have any experience with how these age? I was always led to believe that Zin should be drunk relatively young but....

[viejo majadero]

ctgm

I can speak directly to the Lytton Springs.

I have some from the late 80's, unfortunatley lost for a while in moves, they are well past their prime.

Viejo