Just Wondering

[kpdanville@aol.com]

Had no idea....
just how wonderful & smooth a bottle of 1969 Special Selection California Mountain Pinot Noir from Louis M. Martini could still be. A friend insisted it be opened. The cork pulled clean & the contents very aged but outstanding. Any idea what it was worth? I'm curious to know more about a bottle of 1973 Cabernet Sauvignon also by Louis Martini...will it be as good? And finally, what about a 1975 Sebastiani Proprietor's Reserve Northern CA Pinot Noir (label suggests August himself selected this limited bottling of 75 Pinot & bottled in the summer of 1979). Santa says there are more in the cellar. What a wonderful way to start the holidays! I'm new to old wines but realize I wasn't old enough to drink when these were bottled.

[winoweenie]

Hi kpdanville aand welcome to the board.Unjustifiably,IMHO, Martinis' old wines never got the respect nor collectibility status that his contemporaries, BV, Heitz, and Mondavi had. Tho he made impeccibly balancrd wines that aged their buns off they never commanded premium prices. As an example about 15 years ago I purchased a cellar in Napa that had over 100 bottles of old Martinis going back to 1952. I paid an average of 11 bucks per bottle. Best bang-for-the-buck purchase I ever made. Had MANY hours of
super drinking out of the pile. So, my advice is open-'em-up, have a friend over, and drink them suckers. WW

[Thomas]

Ah yes, I long for the old Martini and Sebastiani wines. What you have is likely still good, but there is only one way to tell; take ww's advice and open them.

[gary]

I also agree based on past experience...OPEN EM UP!!!!!!!! Enjoy, cuz they are worth more in YOUR glass than in someone elses collection...besides,can't fit em in the casket with you anyway!