'80 Hidden Mountain Ranch (HMR)

[Jerry D Mead]

From Ed Masciana...another former HMR G.M. and the author of "Shortcuts to Wine":

The 1980 was probably the Dr. Reserve. It was made from estate grapes and narrowly selected by André, myself and the idiot winemaker from about 200 barrels. I believe there were 300-400 cases made.

When HMR sold to the Japanese in '86 or so, they sold all the inventory to Trader Joe's. The 1980 was an unbelievable bargain at like $8.99 or such. I'm not surprised that it's held up so well. A luncheon there in 1985 with Andre and a dozen of my best wholesalers featured all the wines we'd made to date. The overall concensus (how many times does THAT happen in a wine tasting?) was that the Pinots were good, but inconsistent (the '75 already tired and showing it's over-ripeness since it was almost 16% alc.) but the Cabs were the stars of the show.

It was an interesting time and certainly a precursor to the insanity that pervades the industry today. Anyone want more info, I'd be glad to share with you.

Ed Masciana
EdMascian@AOL.com