We tasted this week (9/3/14) Some Archive Wines:
1.
BabcockVnyds Chard SantaYnezVlly (13.5%; 9 mo. in barrel) 1988: Deep gold/burnished bronze color;
strong caramel/butterscotch/creme brulee/burnt marshmallows rather toasty/smokey/oak bit nutty/
oxidized slight herbal/celery seed complex nose; soft quite nutty/some oxidized strong caramel/
creme brulee/burnt marshmallows smokey/toasty/oak slight spicy/nutmeg w/ slight bitterness; med.short
soft caramel/crmem brulee some nutty/ocidized smokey/oak finish w/ slight bitterness; not any fruit
left but still offers up some pleasure. $13.00
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2.
Qupe Chard SierraMadreVnyd/SBC (TW) 1988: Deep golden color; very slight nutty/oxidize some toasty/
charred/tobaccoy/oak rather honeyed/mead slight melony/Chard quite complex nose w/ minimal oxidation;
ripe/lush slightly tart slight nutty/oxidized strong toasty/tobaccoy/oak quite honeyed/mead some
melony/Chard/ripe complex flavor; very long quite honeyed/mead strong tobaccoy/smokey/oak slight melony/
Chard lush/ripe complex finish; loads of honeyed character but still going strong and quite an
interesting/mature Chard. $15.30
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3.
PepperwoodSprings Chard AndersonVlly (12.5%; EB; Barrel frmtd) 1988: Deep gold/burnished bronze color;
strong toasty/smokey/oak honeyed/creme bruleebit nutty/oxidized slight earthy/herbal nose w/ little
Chard fruit; fairly tart some nutty/oxidized some smokey/oak rather honeyed/herbal flavor w/ long/
lingering herbal/smokey/honeyed finish w/ bit of bitterness; seems further along than the first two but
still offers up some pleasure.
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4.
JosephSwanVnyds Chard RRV/SonomaCoast (12 1/2%; EB) 1988: Very dark gold/some browning color; strongly
oxidized/nutty strong toasty/charred/smokey/oak bit honeyed/creme brulee/apple cider nose; pretty strongly
oxidized/nutty charred/burnt/toasty/oak somewhat bitter flavor; long somewhat bitter charred/burnt/oak
rather oxidized/nutty/bitter creme brulee/butterscotch pudding finish; pretty much on its last legs.
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5.
Saintsbury Chard Carneros (12.9%) 1988: Deep golden/burnished bronze color; some earthy/dusty bit creme
brulee/butterscotchy strong toasty/oak bit nutty/oxidized nose; some oxidized/nutty rather toasty/charred/oak
creme brulee/burnt marshmallow/butterscotch pudding/coconutty/ZagNutBar some metallic/tinny/bitter flavor;
long rather oxidized/nutty/bitter earthy/dusty creme brulee/toasted coconut/butterscotch pudding finish w/
rather bitter streak; pretty far gone & not much pleasure. $11.70
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6.
Kistler Chard McCreaVnyd/SonomaMtn/Calif (14.1%; #4724) 1988: Med.gold/burnished bronze color; rather smokey/
tobaccoy/toasty/oak rather honeyed/creme brulee slight melony/Chard/lemony/herbal quite complex old WhiteBurg
w/o the earthiness nose; fairly tart strong tobbacoy/smokey/oak rather honeyed/creme brulee/butterscotchy
some melony/Chard/fruit complex flavor; very long/lingering some melony/Chard strong tobaccoy/charred/oak
rather honeyed/creme brulee finish slight nutty w/ no signs of bitterness; a really lovely example of an
an old Calif Chard and still quite pleasurable. $24.00
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7.
SummitLakeVnyds Zin HowellMtn/NapaVlly (EB; 14.7%) 1987: Very dark color w/ some browning; rather oxidized/
tired/old Zin earthy/dusty nose w/ no Zin fruit left; tart/tired/dried out oldZin/cedary/oak some metallic/
tangy flavor w/ tired/dried out tannins; pretty much DOA and only of intellectual interest. $15.00 (Arg)
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8.
Sky Zin NapaVlly (EG; TW) 1988: Med.light color w/ some bricking; rather toasty/oak/cedary oldZin/penciilly/
tobaccoy slight blackberry/Zin fairly complex nose; bit tart light raspberry/blackberry/Zin quite dusty/earthy
rather tobaccoy/toasty/oak/cedary/pencilly flavor w/ modest/drying tannins; very long light blackberry/raspberry/
Zin cedary/tobaccoy/pencilly/old Zin earthy/dusty finish w/ light/drying tannins; still has some life in it
and some fruit remaining but starting to dry out.
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9.
RobertPecota CabSauv Kara'sVnyd/NapaVlly (12%) 1986: Med.dark color w/ light bricking; fairly strong blackcurranty/
Cab bit eucalyptus/cedary/pencilly/oak light earthy/loamy complex nose; rather cedary/pencilly/eucalyptus/oak
bit metallic/tired some blackcurranty/Cab flavor w/ some dried-out tannins; med.long cedary/pencilly/oak slight
blackcurranty/Cab metallic/tangy finish w/ some dried-out tannins; still clinging to life and has some fruit left
but getting pretty tired. $15.20
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10.
A.Rafanelli CabSauv DryCreekVlly/SonomaCnty (Unfltrd; 13.5%) 1987: Med.dark color w/ some bricking; somewhat
bretty/barnyardy rather earthy/loamy/rustic strong blackcurranty/Cab almost Zin-like/blackberry strong vanilla/
Am.oak/toasty nose; bit tart quite bretty/barnyardy strong blackcurranty/Cab rather earthy/loamy flavor w/ some
rough/coarse/drying tannins; med.long quite bretty/barnyardy/leathery strong blackcurranty/Cab rather earthy/loamy
finish w/ some rough/drying tannins; still a fair amount of Cab fruit left but too bretty for my tastes.
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11.
Cinnabar CabSauv FoxHollwVnyd/SantaCruzMtns (EB; TW) 1986: Dark color w/ slight bricking; very strong herbal/Cab/
peppery very earthy/loamy/dusty quite smokey/coffee some toasty/smokey/pencilly rather rustic/mountain complex
nose; tart fairly tannic earthy/dusty/loamy herbal/Cab/peppery/coffee/smokey toasty/pencilly/oak flavor w/ light
rough/coarse tannins; long herbal/loamy/earthy/Cab/peppery pungent/toasty/oak finish w/ slight rough/drying tannins;
very much a classic mountain/rugged Cab but drying out a bit.
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12.
FellomRanchVnyds CabSauv MonteBello/SCM (13.4%; EB) 1987: Med.dark color w/ light bricking; strong earthy/herbal/
blackcurranty/Cab smokey/coffee/espresso some earthy/dusty/MB-like/rustic beautiful mature Cab nose; very slight
bretty/barnyardy earthy/herbal/Cab/earthy/dusty some espresso/coffee bean/oak complex flavor w/ light/raspy/
angular tannins; very long coffee bean/smokey/espresso/oak earthy/loamy/Cab/blackcurranty/dusty complex finish w/
light/rough tannins; a fully mature mountain Cab much like a junior MonteBello; lovely mature Cab on the
downside. $18.00
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13.
Grgich Hills CabSauv NapaVlly (13.5%) 1985: Very dark color; strong blackcurranty/Cab/chocolaty some earthy/
dusty/loamy some toasty/pencilly/smokey/oak slight eucalyptus complex very classic old-timey Calif Cab nose;
bit tart very strong/blackcurranty/Cab/ripe/chocolaty some toasty/charred/pungent/oak/pencilly biit loamy/earthy
complex old-timey Calif Cab flavor w/ some hard/firm tannins; very long/lingering ripe/chocolaty/blackcurranty/
Cab/earthy/loamy some smokey/charred/oak finish w/ some firm/rugged tannins; still seems pretty youthful;
a wonderful old-timey Calif Cab. $14.95 (vLA)
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14.
Ch. FleurCardinale St.Emilion GrandCru (15%; 70% Merlot/20% CabFranc/10% CS; MeBaC;
www.Chateau-FleurCardinale.com) 2010: Black color; medicinal/milk of magnesia somewhat alcoholic very intense
chocolaty/blackcurranty/Merlot/plummy slight herbal very jammy/overextracted way over-the-top nose; soft/fat
very intense chocolaty/Marlot/huge fruit/boysenberry medicinal/milk-of-magnesia strong toasty/charred/oak
flavor w/ soft/overripe/mushy tannins; very long/lingering very extracted/chocolaty/huge Merlot fruit/
boysenberry strong toasty/charred/oak soft/fat/mushy finish w/ soft/ripe tannins; a grotesque characticture
of a StEmillion; hard to tell where this will go. $45.00 (vSC)
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A wee BloodyPulpit:
1. An interesting collection of old Chards. None were totally shot and murkey/brown like totally dead ones can
be. They all offered up some degree of pleasure. The Swan was probably the closest to DOA. When I poured
the Kistler, I could tell from the color that it was still alive. Sho'nuff...it was still very much alive
and quite a good example of an old/mature Calif Chard.
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2. FellomRanch: This is a small vnyd/wnry up on MonteBelloRidge. Tucked in between the lower JomsomareRanch
and the upper MonteBello vnyd. They apparently are still making wine. But I'm not sure if they're allowed
to use MonteBello on their label any longer. Haven't had theiir wines in yrs, but always felt their Cab
was pretty close to a junior MonteBello.
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3. Cabs: Of these Cabs, the GrgichHills was clearly the star of the show. Showing some evolution, it still
seemed on the young side and may never outlive its rugged tannins. The FellomRanch was not far behind.
The FleurCardinale, SteveCostigan's mystery wine, was totally abherent. Nobody identified it has Merlot.
It was a RalphSteadman drawing of StEmilion. Parker scored it a 95...no surprise there, I guess. It reminded
me more of an over-the-top Paso Syrah than anything. Certainly nothing from StEmilion. You look at it
with awe on how they achieved such extraction. Mind-boggling.
Tom