TN: 1978 Stag's Leap Wine Cellars Cabernet Sauvignon

[jal]

• 1978 Stag's Leap Wine Cellars Cabernet Sauvignon - USA, California, Napa Valley, Stags Leap District (12/8/2013)
  Cork crumbled and needed decanting (with a filter), the wine is pale ruby with a little bricking at the rim, wonderful aroma of earth and berries. On the palate, it is a smooth, fully resolved wine with lots of secondary and tertiary layers of flavor. Complexity, balance, fruit and structure with a long finish. I just love California cabs from the seventies (93 pts.)

[stefan]

Yeah, that was back when Stag's Leap made good wines.

[Claret]

I drank quite a few 78's in my early wine days. A sentimental vintage for sure.

[jal]

Come to think of it, I really don't remember ever drinking a bad California Cabernet from the seventies, and I've drank a lot of them. Now, that for me was the golden age of Napa.

[AlohaArtakaHoundsong]

OK, I'll bite: What happened?

I remember tasting Some Robert Mondavi cabs, quite possibly from the late seventies or no later than maybe 82 at Eagle wines in Georgetown once. I thought they were quite tannic, not at all "fruity" and very interesting but the retail was something like $20 bottle which was pretty extravagant in the world of $4 crus bourgeois I inhabited.

[finner]

A glass of 1978 Clos du Val Cabernet was served to me at Sportsman's Wine Shop & bar in Phoenix in the early 90's. A turning point experience for me.

[jal]

I have been drinking 1970's Napa cabs for fifteen years now, usually in the fall around Thanksgiving. I don't think I've ever had a bad one. Let's see, from memory: 1974, 1978 Mondavi Reserve, 1974 Montelena, 1977 Heitz Martha, 1978,1979 or 1980 William Hill, 1978 Mayacamas, 1978 Stag's Leap Cask 23 (my wow wine the last decade) and a dozen more I will have to remember, including some BV Geroges de Latour. I can not remember finding any of them too tannic. I think the early 80s were a much worse decade for these estates.

[stefan]

That is not exactly a random selection of CA cabs from the 1970s, Jacques. There were plenty of weak ones, too.

These days it is easy to find cabs from the 1980s, but good ones from the 1970s are few and far between at auctions.

[jal]

I'm sure you're right Stefan, but I can only go with my experience. I have bought plenty of 80s and 90s Napa cabs that disappointed me. But I have yet to be disappointed by a 70s wine.

[DavidG]

Peter Evans used to bring '70s-era California cabs to BWE events and they were unfailingly delicious. And Tim brought a '70s Heitz Martha's to our Dubai event, also delicious. But definitely not random samples.

[JimHow]

I never understood those 70s Bordeauxs we drank at some of those pre-Saturday-night dinners.
I thought they were nice but lacked the gravitas of Bordeaux.
But that was just me.

[DavidG]

You mean the '70s Calis? Well they weren't Bdx or "serious" like Bdx, but they were delicious and interesting in their own right.

[JimHow]

Delicious and interesting... but not Bordeaux. Not even close.

[DavidG]

Agreed. I would rather drink a 20-30 yo Bdx than a 20-39 yo CA Cab, hands down.

[jal]

Yes but the comparison is unfair, a 1978 Lynch Bages, Ducru, or Pichon Lalande is going to cost about $150-$200, the Napa cabs will be between $30-$80.

When I want to drink a $50 old cabernet from the seventies, Napa is where I go for best qpr. For other than cabs, nothing beats nebbiolo for value, but that's another thread altogether.

[DavidG]

Depends on which Napa Cabs - Heitz, Phelps, Stags Leap (reserve bottlings), Montelena, Ridge MB are all up there. I wonder what Harlan, Shafer, and the cults will go for in another 15 years.

[DavidG]

Then again, I'm looking at retail sites on WineSearcher. Better prices can often be found at auction...

[AlohaArtakaHoundsong]

I would gladly pay $50 to sample a Cali Cab from the 70s, and it wouldn't need to be one of the then-most-heralded wines or whatever, just something that was likely to have held up over time. So where do I apply for these $30-$50 30+ year old wines?

[jal]

I bought at auction, Art. Usually Acker Merrall or Winebid.
Alternatively, come on over, I'll gladly share.