Could a 1976 Cabernet Sauvignon be drinkable resp. very enjoyable?

Regards,
Jens

Jens Jensen wrote:
> Could a 1976 Cabernet Sauvignon be drinkable resp. very enjoyable?

Yes... if it was from a top producer and stored properly.

Mark Lipton

"Mark Lipton" > schrieb:

>> Could a 1976 Cabernet Sauvignon be drinkable resp. very enjoyable?
>
> Yes... if it was from a top producer and stored properly.

producer is good, cant say if it was stored properly, might as well give it
a shot though (ebay)

jens

Yes, a very few California Cabernet Sauvignons from 1976, and even much
earlier, can still be very good if they have been perfectly stored. A
few from 1976 that I have tasted within the last few years that were
holding well included: Freemark Abbey Bosche, Ridge Monte Bello, Heitz
Cellar Martha's Vineyard, and BV Private Reserve. There likely are
several others.

I would not buy any wines this old unless I knew that they had been
properly stored at a steady temperature of under 60 F, or unless I could
taste samples before buying, as you sometimes can at auctions.

I had a Martin Ray 1968 (made by the man Martin Ray, not the more recent
winery with that name) within the last year, and it still was holding
well. There have been a few published reports of BV Private Reserves
from the 50s and even 40s that still were drinking well. But of course
only a very few California Cabernets live this long. And then there is
Bordeaux, where Cabernet Sauvignon is the major grape in many wines.
Chateau Latour sometimes holds well for over 100 years.

Reply to .

"Jens Jensen" > wrote in message
...
>
> Could a 1976 Cabernet Sauvignon be drinkable resp. very enjoyable?

1976 was a really excellent vintage for Napa and Sonoma Cabernets - possibly
other regions too. It was a drought year, so the yields were poor - but the
quality was superb!

A few of my favorites were the BV Private Reserve ($16), Caymus Special
Selection ($?) and (oddly enough) Pedroncelli (~$6). I haven't tasted any
of these recently, but I understand that the BV is still good. If I saw it
on the shelf of a reputable proprietor I'd buy it if I could afford to do
so.

Although the 1976 Heitz Martha's Vineyard was a decent enough wine, I found
it a bit too tannic for the amount of fruit present. I heard at the time
that the Bella Oaks (also Heitz) was better, but I've never tasted it. :^(

Tom S

You never know. My cousin's girlfriend gave me a bottle of some
inexpensive, obscure wine from the south of France, a 1983. It had not
been stored properly-- she lives on Long Island and until recently
didn't have central AC.

The wine wasn't great, but it didn't appear to have suffered any damage
from the passage of time nor from the heat.

Shaun Eli
www.BrainChampagne.com
Brain Champagne: Clever Comedy for the Smart Mind (sm)

On Sat, 20 Aug 2005 01:20:13 +0200, "Jens Jensen"
> wrote:

>
>"Mark Lipton" > schrieb:
>
>>> Could a 1976 Cabernet Sauvignon be drinkable resp. very enjoyable?
>>
>> Yes... if it was from a top producer and stored properly.
>
>producer is good, cant say if it was stored properly, might as well give it
>a shot though (ebay)

If it's ebay, *ask* how it was stored.
--
Steve Slatcher
http://pobox.com/~steve.slatcher

In article > ,
says...
>
>
>"Jens Jensen" > wrote in message
...
>>
>> Could a 1976 Cabernet Sauvignon be drinkable resp. very enjoyable?
>
>1976 was a really excellent vintage for Napa and Sonoma Cabernets - possibly
>other regions too. It was a drought year, so the yields were poor - but the
>quality was superb!
>
>A few of my favorites were the BV Private Reserve ($16), Caymus Special
>Selection ($?) and (oddly enough) Pedroncelli (~$6). I haven't tasted any
>of these recently, but I understand that the BV is still good. If I saw it
>on the shelf of a reputable proprietor I'd buy it if I could afford to do
>so.
>
>Although the 1976 Heitz Martha's Vineyard was a decent enough wine, I found
>it a bit too tannic for the amount of fruit present. I heard at the time
>that the Bella Oaks (also Heitz) was better, but I've never tasted it. :^(
>
>Tom S

Over the last few years (doesn't hardly qualify as a pronouncement of '76 CA
Cabs NOW, but maybe worth noting), I've drained the cellar at a local
restaurant of their stock of '76 Inglenook "Reserve" Cabs. Cellar conditions
are perfect and their price is very good @~ US$75/btl. All have been excellent
with the bottles tasted in 2003 being the best. I have not had any since then,
as I drank them all. While probably not the blockbusters from that property in
the 50's - 60's, the '76 was still very good. Unfortunately, I didn't taste
their stock before 1998, as that is when we moved to AZ. I think this wine
would still be holding, perhaps with a bit of slippage, still. If these had
been Caymus SS, Ridge MB, or the Heitz MV, I'll bet that they would have been
even better.

BTW, who is the producer of the OP's wine? I seem to have missed that.

Hunt

"Hunt" > wrote in message
...
> BTW, who is the producer of the OP's wine? I seem to have missed that.

We _all_ missed that because he didn't say. Presented it as hypothetical,
but I'll bet he had a specific wine in mind.

Tom S