1997 maddalena central coast cab

[newsguy]

this is the wine that WS gave an 88 and called it a best buy. i finally found 3 bottles at a local store, and bought all of them at $12.99 per. i thought this was a little risky, considering i had never even tasted the wine, but the WS description and rating seemed good, so...

well, i tried it last night with a porterhouse -- i know, you've all heard that from me before [img]http://www.wines.com/ubb2/wink.gif[/img] poured a glass and let it breath for a half hour. color was a deep reddish/brickish, with purple at the edges. so far, so good. nice nose of currants and a hint of spice that reminded me of the 1997 beringer founder's estate cab (which i loved and thought was a wonderful value). but the taste of the maddalena was very simple: red currants. not much else came through. and after another half hour, it didn't seem to really open up at all.

well, i put the rest of the bottle in the fridge with the vac-u-vin, so we'll see if another day has helped it. but i can tell you i was very underwhelmed last night. an 88? not to me. more like an 80.

has anyone else tried this wine or have any notes on it?

[Drew]

Newsguy, did you get my email last week? If not send me your email address to Xldrive@aol.com.

Drew