Quote:
Originally Posted by Bilbo1967
Glass of Glenlivet.
But that Latour sounds good.  |
Sadly, the '98 was no good at all. When we broke the foil, there was evidence of leaking, and when we pulled the cork, we could see that it had obviously gotten some oxygen in there. At 15 years, it should still have been quite good, but was totally gone. Sigh. And it was our last of the '98, too. Not a great year for Napa Cabs, even in the Rutherford area, but still a respectable year. We opened a bottle last winter and it was still drinking really well. But not this particular bottle, unfortunately. I'm saving those two '97s and that '95 for special occasions, so, we opened a '99 instead. Excellent. A nose that still has a fair amount of black fruit in it, with the distinctive "Rutherford Dust" very present. Not even a hint of browning on the edge in the glass, which is a deep, almost inky dark red-black. A bit of chocolate and berry in the front of the mouth, with a strong finish. Showing a very slight thinness in the middle that wasn't there when it was younger, and the puckery dryness of tannin is mostly gone, though there's still plenty of structure and a long, lingering finish.
IOW, a really fine example of Napa Cabernet Sauvignon at its peak or nearly so. Good for 5-10 more years easily.
This morning - a big glass of fresh squeezed orange juice, and a mug of Peet's Anniversary Breakfast Blend (2013).