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And the usual incoherent ramblings of a crazed mind from
the bloody pulpit:
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Mayacamas Cabs: When I started getting serious about Calif wines; Mayacamas
was THE Cabernet; the Grace Family/Screaming Eagle/Colgin of those days;
though the craziness/stupidity/frenzy chasing of those cult wines didn't
seem to exist in those days when I was buying from Boulder's Liquor Mart.
The were huge/extracted/ brutally tannic Cabs upon their release but everyone
just "knew" that they would age forever and, ergo, you MUST buy them, whether
you liked them or not. I remember tasting them in their youth, wondering
where in Gawd's green earth the fruit had gone to. By the early '80's,
even having tasted the legendary '68 Mayacamas several times; I had never
had a Mayacamas Cab that I truly liked, concluded that the emperor wore
no clothes, so started letting my wallet listen to my palate (always wise
advice) and quit buying the bloody wines. Trying the wines from time- to-time;
I still never had a Mayacamas Cab that I truly liked. So I decided it was
time, with around 20 yrs of age on these bottles, to finally liquidate
my supply. The 71, '73, '74 I thought were still pretty tannic wines but
pretty dried-out and exactly what I thought old Mayacamas Cabs would taste
like; tannic/astringent and no fruit (fruit was never a strong suite in
Mayacamas Cabs anyway). The '76 was a bit shakey, but OK to drink. But
the '77 and the '78 were a bit of a surprise. Still not much fruit, but
in the context of a Rhone-style wine, were actually pretty good to drink,
though still a fair amount of tannins on them. I doubt they will ever be
great/mature Calif Cabs but they are pretty decent drinking right now.
What really struck me that none of these Cabs, unlike the Ridge MonteBellos
of that time frame, had any of that tobaccoy/cedary character I so often
find in old Calif Cabs. So..... does the emperor wear no clothes??? I would
not say that any longer... only that he's clad in flimsey K-Mart Shopper's
Blue Light Special skivvies!!! I have NO idea what the current Mayacamas
Cabs are like.... and not at all inclined to find out. Jeez.... I'm so
busy trying to track down some more Screaming Eagle..... gotta have that
stuff... I KNOW it's gonna live forever!!!
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Last week, Howard & Rhoda Sherry did an extensive vertical tasting
of the Dunn Howell Mtn Cabs, so thought it would be interesting to include
the standard Napa Vlly bottlings. These wines were very distinctly in that
same style w/ plenty of charred/toasty oak, but just seem to like that
bit of extra depth & extract & structure that the HowellMtns showed.
Almost like Dunn HowellMtn Cabs made from lesser grapes.
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Included the Leonetti Sangiovese so Larry Archibald could taste it. I was
fully prepared to dislike this wine acause of the stupid price. It's typically
Leonetti red wine in which any classic varietal character has been obliterated
by either the terrior or the heavily toasted oak. But I really loved that
wine for its great roasted/Rhone character. Too bad about the price.
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The Corti Bros. Cab was Larry Archibald's mystery wine. I identified it
as old Zin or perhaps old Cab. This wine was a very dear & close friend
of mine in its youth. It was made by Jed Steele up at EdmeadesVnyds, back
when there were some truly great wines coming out of Mendocino Cnty. It
was a puncheon that Darrel Corti selected out from Jed's stock. The anemic
alcohol level should be noted. In its youth, it was an absolutely beautiful
wine w/ an incredible spiciness to it. It was NOT a blockbuster or dramatic
young Cab but one that just had an incredible elegance and balance to it;
exactly the kind of Calif Cab that in this day and age would be widely
scorned as too wimpy... not enough extract... not enough oak. It was a
graceful & terrific-drinking from its release whose last bottle I drank
with relish some 10-12 yrs ago. Who'd thought it would last some 25 yrs.
Once again, the Darrell Corti palate comes thru!!
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Mayacamas Zins: In 1968; Mayacamas, Ridge, and David Bruce unleashed upon
the world the very first Late Harvest Zins. Zins w/ some residual sugar
(in some cases) w/ high alcohol levels. They took the wine-world (of then)
by storm. People were very enamored w/ those wines. Of the '68's, my favorite
was the Mayacamas, produced from Napa Valley grapes. Mayacamas did not
make another (unlike Ridge or David Bruce) until this '72; made from Amador
Cnty/ShenandoahVlly grapes from what was to become Ed Baldinelli's vnyd
eventually. I bought a bunch of it... still have a few btls left. This
bottle was Steve Sterbenz's mystery wine. I picked it out as old Late Harvest
Zin but didn't think Steve could possibly have a Mayacamas. The wine has
lost most of its glory and a tannic/alcoholic shell of its former self,
but still an interesting relic to try.
TomHill
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