1991 Mondavi Cabernet and Pinot 3L

[grapelover]

Any recommendations on these two? Do the 3L's hold better or worse? Parker says ready on the Pinot and hold on the Cab, but others say drink the Pinot. Also anyone ever heard of prices on these two?

[winoweenie]

Hi Grapelover and welcome to the board. As a general rule , the larger the format, the longer the wine will age in comparasion to the regular(750) bottles. You need to give a little ,more specifics as to which Mondavi bottling you have as Big Bob makes everthin' from plonk to pricey. WW

[grapelover]

Thanks so much for getting on this!
The bottle is marked 1991 Robert Mondavi Silver Anniversary Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon. There is no other info to speak of except that the foil is silver and the label is signed in printing by Robert Mondavi and the standard info about it being bottled in Oakville.
The Pinot Noir is the same in all these respects.
I hope this helps. I am ready to drink 'em if they are ready to be.

[winoweenie]

Hi GL. The two are ready to rumble! The Pinot is ready and the Cab will be a delight but it will hold another 5 if you so deign. Get all your specials together, whomp up some rare roast beef, open that sucker and party down. WW

[grapelover]

Wow is that some great news! What time shall we make dinner ready everyone? You gotta get to my house in Hawaii though...
Anyway, since I haven't even looked at these two bottles lately, I snuck a peek [they are stored in padded winery boxes on their side in a dark cool closet]. Should I be alarmed that both bottles have serious sediment on the bottom side [which they have been lying on]? And the Cab has a miniscule amount of leakage from the foil. How bad is that? Does that change the time frame for opening these two?

[winoweenie]

Sediment GOOD....Leakage BAD.... Carefully stand the bottles up for a couple of days before opening. Pour carefully as sediment is NOT good to drink. In the large format, the leakage shouldn't hurt. Let us know after the parties. WW

[grapelover]

Never has a "weenie" been so helpful! I appreciate the input and look forward to sharing some more questions and maybe someday answers in this great forum.

[barnesy]

Yeah, be careful of sediment...

I was pouring the last glass of a bottle and thought I knowticed a plunk in the glass but wasn't paying attention. I also didn't knowtice it when I did the old bottoms up on the last drink of the glass. My wife wondered why I was making a frenzied dash to the sink. [img]http://www.wines.com/ubb2/biggrin.gif[/img] A mouth full of sediment is less than tastey, even though it was a bit entertaining.

Also a lesson, be careful when consuming wines in low lighting.

Barnesy