547548 Mon Aug 11 08:00:49 -0700 2008 6 34 Wine 0 3946724 So it's James Hall's 50th birthday, he the Hall in Patz & Hall, and we drive up to the beautiful home of Anne Moses and James Hall to celebrate -- along with a number of old friends from the Santa Cruz days (I've known Anne & James for some 27-28 years, I think; some there have known Jim since the 6th grade!), and a number of "new[er]" Napa friends. After all, they've only been in Napa for two decades or so . . . I bring some wines -- God knows you never have enough wine in Napa! -- and one of the bottles I bring to dinner (and certainly worthy of its own separate thread!) is 1987 Ridge Monte Bello Cabernet Sauvignon (Santa Cruz Mountains AVA) So, I grab this, thinking -- hey! it's 20 years old; the label reads "it needs 20 years" . . . perfect!. So I schlep this up to Napa, we sit down to dinner, there's some Patz & Hall stuff on the table, and what do I do??? Go grab this 20 year old Monte Bello! "Wow!" says everyone. Kristin Belair (winemaker at Honig, and former winemaker at Johnson-Turnbull) pulls the cork -- sniffs the wine, hands it to me. Oh, don't tell me it's corked?, I say. She hands over the bottle wordlessly. I smell it. It's a bit musty (Barbara Eden probably was, too, after being stuck inside her bottle for that long!), it's a bit funky . . . but it's not corked. Inger Schiffrin (former "Santa Cruzer" back in the Felton-Empire era and long-timer at Robert Mondavi), says, "It smells like salty, and herbal, but I kinda like it" I forget who, but someone points out the alcohol content -- something I hadn't noticed up until now (and should have): 11.7% !!! WTF??? How can you make Cabernet with only 11.7 percent abv??? Well, tasting the wine the answer is obvious: you can't! As the wine opened, it turned more to seaweed, iodine, and eventually we all agreed this was the year that they must have moved the Monte Bello vineyard from its present location 2300' up on the inland side of the Santa Cruz Mountains to a site directly underneath the Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk -- creosote, barnacles, and all . . . Fortunately, the rest of the evening's wines were great, and (I think) James had a very happy 50th birthday! I know we enjoyed the party! Except for that weird guy who brought the Monte Bello . . . Cheers, Jason Mon Aug 11 08:00:50 -0700 2008 28122 zin1953 1 3947377 Oh, my heart aches for you! What a disappointment. Interesting post. cheers, Angela Mon Aug 11 11:15:10 -0700 2008 3946724 180467 WineUnleashed 1 3947383 Oh my heart aches for you!! What a bummer. Interesting post. Thanks. Cheers, Angela Mon Aug 11 11:18:35 -0700 2008 3946724 180467 WineUnleashed 1 3947654 I'm with you , the 11.7 percent alc is a big surprise ....I just don't get it ...was Paul Draper the winemaker do you remember ? Mon Aug 11 12:37:59 -0700 2008 3946724 80122 pinotho 2 3947908 Paul's been there since 1969 or 1970. 1987 was a VERY cool vintage, and the aclohol is not necessarily all that surprising. The surprise was that I never noticed it! ;^) Mon Aug 11 13:43:17 -0700 2008 3947654 28122 zin1953 1 3948641 Augh, nothing worse than the anticipation of opening what should be a stellar bottle of wine, and having it disappoint you tremendously b/c it'd gone past its prime long ago. At least you had lots of other wine/champagne/port to cushion that blow!!! I brought a bottle of '90 Ch. Lynch Bages to my wife's bday dinner at Manresa a few months ago, and unfortunately it was very off. Not corked, but just way off...... =-/ I willed myself to drink it more for the nostalgia of when I'd purchased it long ago. At least the Corton Charlemagne we ordered was savory & elegant. Mon Aug 11 17:40:36 -0700 2008 3946724 11011 Eugene Park 1 3949146 Oh bummer!!!! We had the '87 Monte Bello at a Meritage vs Bdx tasting and it was a big hit. It finished third behind only the '02 Insignia and the '02 Dominus Estate. It beat out some "Super Second" Bdx of about the same age. OK, these were not "officially" Meritage wines, but you get the drift. Sorry about that bottle, but stuff happens and we all know it. Sometimes, it happens at the least opportune moments. I feel your pain, as it has happened to me, and usually when I only had one bottle of wine X. Now, most of my guests are not at that level, but they usually do know their wines. I think I still have one bottle left. Maybe we can gather in NOLA and I'll bring it along, just to share. I know it will not happen on our respective next trips, but who knows? Maybe next time round... Thanks for sharing. BTW, you can bring the Monte Bello to my place any day, and we'll find a way to get by. Hunt Mon Aug 11 21:08:48 -0700 2008 3946724 11329 Bill Hunt