1995 Casa Carneros Merlot Las Lomas Vineyard – When Dave brought this bottle over we were really wondering what he was thinking. A seventeen year old California Merlot! Certainly it could not still be good! Well, it turned out he made an excellent choice, the wine was still tasting very well. The color was a ruby-garnet with just a little brickiness on the edges. I expected it to be a much lighter color. Initially the nose was slightly stinky but that blew off to spice and fruit. This is a very nice wine, particularly since I did not think California Merlot would age well.
I believe the last vintage available was 1998, after that the vineyard was replanted with Pinot Noir. We will have to look for a bottle to see how the Pinot ended up doing there.
It’s a fine line when to open a bottle after you’ve had it for a decade or so. I’ve tried in the past year a bottle of the 1997 Jarvis Cabernet Sauvignon, 1998 Martin Ray Cab Sauv, 1997 St Francis Cab Franc, 2000 Rodney Strong Cab Sauv, 1997 Hahn Estates Meritage, and a 2001 Chateau Ste Michelle Merlot that were just incredible. They were better than when I first tried them over ten years ago.
I don’t think I’m going to cellar New England reds for that long of a time. I think NE reds are to be enjoyed within 5 years of bottling. Lessons learned…
You have had some pretty good luck with older domestic wines. People I know with a lot more experience than I have say about 10 to 12 years for most domestic wines. Of course there are always exceptions. We just tried a 1996 Sutter Home California Cabernet Sauvignon that was way over the hill. It was “discovered” when cleaning out a house. No idea how it was stored either but it certainly was not in a cellar. Also, it wasn’t a premium wine to begin with. We thought it was worth tasting just for the experience, though.
I have a couple of Clos Du Bois wines I’m itchin’ to taste. One’s a 1999 Marlstone blend, the other a 2001 Briarcrest Cab Sauv. I tried the Marlstone back in 2002 (hence the reason I bought this bottle) and it was excellent. Are they still off the 101 at Independence? If I remember correctly you take a right at the end of the ramp and then a left at the stop sign and then a quick right into their winery. Also looking to open a 1997 Santero Borolo.
We shall see my friend, we shall see…
Sounds like a pretty good collection. I haven’t been collecting that long so I don’t have much that dates back very far. Most of my older wine tasting comes from friends with deep cellars.
Nothing wrong with deep cellars or friends either. I’ve been collecting since 2001 (drinking wine though since my grandfather would slip us an oz. of the red juice on Sundays before our evening meal growing up). My grandfather hailed from Italy and wine was a staple for him.
I never intended to collect wine, just drink it, but every time I opened a bottle I went back and bought 1 or 2 more plus a bottle of a new wine I had not tried and the next thing I knew there were around 270 bottles. Now I look at the wine and think to myself “Ya really gotta start drinkin’ some of this wine”. Well, when I’m gone, I know my kids will enjoy too!
Don’t you just love it when you open a bottle you think won’t be good and it turns out to be a really good experience.
I recently opened a 1999 Rhode Island red wine that was really scrumptious back when I first tried this in 2002, it was better back then. I think New England reds have a long way to go…
I still have a dozen or so bottles that are 2001 and earlier and should seriously think about opening them soon;)
It’s great when the wine is still good but I have one I’ll post soon that was way over the hill.