Wednesday, August 06, 2008
Old Mondavi non-reserve Cabernets
I am a huge fan of older California cabernets, and over the past month a friend has opened three Mondavi non-reserve Cabernets purchased from the Graham Lyons cellar earlier this year. The first, opened at Momofuku Ko, was the 1974. I had heard that this was almost as good as the legendary 1974 Reserve, and it was indeed excellent, pretty rich, complex but not getting at all tired.
Last week we tried one of the 1973s, which was not up to that level, but still quite nice. It's neither that concentrated nor that complex, but it's tasty, and the structure is impeccable, with the acidity, frut and tannin in perfect balance. Yesterday we tried the 1969; while everyone agreed it was respectable, the owner thought that it was showing some signs of improper storage (based on other experiences with the Lyons cellar, that was almost certainly before it was purchased by Mr. Lyons). While it did have some madeirized notes on the finish, it was a reasonably good wine, a little more complex than the 1973 but less well integrated. I thought that it was just an example of a wine allowed to linger a decade or more past its best drinking window.
Coming attractions: Coche-Dury red wines, a recent blind tasting and my group's summer Champagne dinner
Last week we tried one of the 1973s, which was not up to that level, but still quite nice. It's neither that concentrated nor that complex, but it's tasty, and the structure is impeccable, with the acidity, frut and tannin in perfect balance. Yesterday we tried the 1969; while everyone agreed it was respectable, the owner thought that it was showing some signs of improper storage (based on other experiences with the Lyons cellar, that was almost certainly before it was purchased by Mr. Lyons). While it did have some madeirized notes on the finish, it was a reasonably good wine, a little more complex than the 1973 but less well integrated. I thought that it was just an example of a wine allowed to linger a decade or more past its best drinking window.
Coming attractions: Coche-Dury red wines, a recent blind tasting and my group's summer Champagne dinner
