I have found that many of the very rich California Rieslings from the
70s and 80s are still holding very well. Being a fan of top late harvest
German Rieslings, I bought heavy stocks of these in the 70s, mainly the
outstanding 71s, 75s, and 76s. I had to special order some of these with
the help of a friendly importer. When some of the rich California
Rieslings appeared, I was greatly impressed and thought many would age
very well, but perhaps not as slowly as some of the German Rieslings.
They were nearly giving these wines away compared with the top German
BAs and TBAs. Oddly enough, the area stores were having a difficult time
selling them because there was not much of a market for ultra rich sweet
wines in the area at that time. I cleaned out the small stocks that
three wine stores had received. I still have about 50 of these wines,
mostly in half bottles, and the ones I still have all are drinking well.
Freemark Edelwein 73 (BA) is beginning to show a bit more age than I
like, but the 78 should hold a few more years.The 76 and 91 Edelwein
Gold are about TBA richness, with plenty of time to go. The Ch. St. Jean
Belle Terre IDBSLH (28% RS) is neary beyond TBA and should last many
more years. Joseph Phelps Stanton SLH (30% RS) also should have a long
life. Veedercrest 78, Individually Selected, Steltzner (about BA) still
is holding although not as rich as some of the others mentioned. All of
the mentioned wines had enough acidity to balance the great richness.
The balance is more like a top German Pfalz BA or TBA than a Mosel or
Saar.

Of course I took a chance buying these to age. If they had not held
well, I might have tried to get a hospital to buy them to use for their
glucose tolerance tests instead of that awful sugar water they use.

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