3 Cabs

[brappy]

All of these wines were decanted for at least 3 hours before I got my shot at 'em:

Simi Cab Reserve '91
Good solid fruit on the nose along with some hints of aging. On the palate, the fruit is still concentrated but more so on the back palate. There is also something bitter on the back palate but just a hint. Very nice wine; I wish I had another to study. I believe this wine to be the first consulting job in the US for Michele Roland, but i could be wrong.

Beringer Private Reserve '91
This is the second bottle of this in the last month I've tasted. This one doesn't posess the quality of the first but is still great juice. The nose is beautiful - full of fruit with that earthiness still poking its head out. Some aging is evident on the nose. On the palate, the fruit is still youthfull and concentrated; Nice sweet fruit on the back palate with some creaminess. Finish falls short. I still believe this vintage to be the best of Beringer PR. Still quite a stunning wine.

Newton Unfiltered Cab '91
I believe Kongsgaard was the winemaker at this time. Clearly, this wine is the most youthful of the 3. And that's evident from the nose alone. The nose has a touch of cracked black pepper which I find interesting. Vibrant sweet fruit on the palate which solidifies my opinion as the best wine of the flight. This wine has a finish that keeps on going. I can only hope the Newtons I have in the cellar will turn out so well.

The beginning of the evening was 2 chardonnays. The Kongsgaard '99 and the Mt. Eden '96. Both were wonderful yet they both have lost some obvious fruit. The Kongsgaard seemed to have come from barrels that were overchared, or for my preference anyway. but that could from the lack of fresh fruit. All in all, great stuff....

mark

[TheEngineer]

Nice writeup! So those wines sounds like that they have more than a bit of life left in them. That is a 15 year old Cab. Any guess as to their longevity? I've seen (but not tasted) 40 year old napa cabs that look almost like a white wine to me (I thought it was my eyes at the time....may stll be). Why do they chance color like that?...or do they and it was my eyes?

[winoweenie]

Brapster if you go back a few weeks you'll find I've been posting on the Simi for the last 3 years. Good stuff. WW

[brappy]

Eng,
I know older wines tend to get lighter in color but I've never seen one look almost white. It is interesting drinking some older wines when they have lost some color but thier fruit is still concentrated and youthful. Kinda catches you off guard.

But none of these wine had any signs of bricking and certainly no loss of color. Of the few 91s that i've tasted recently, all were sitting in thier prime. I do believe the '91 vintage was underrated, but probably because of the highly rated '90 vintage. I'm just speculating here, maybe WW will chime in. His cellar has seen all of these wines by the box = he has way more experience in this than I.

mark

WW, I responded on your '91 Simi post