Back home from a weekend in San Francisco and wanted to open something warm and friendly and old and not think about it too hard… Well 0 out of 2 ain’t bad odds and you certainly don’t have to think about it much: it’s just plain bad. “Gone” would be a better word, but I’m not here to sugar-coat things for the generation addicted to positivity. I cautiously bought a few of these when they went on deep discount recently–I’ve loved the brand classically, but either storage since or flat-out incapability have rendered them useless. 25 years shouldn’t be a problem for a district-specific Napa cab, but apparently: here it is. Perfect cork, nice sediment, all eyes pointed at *pristine*.
Brown in the glass–even finding *garnet* would be a stretch of the color spectrum. Waxy and oxidized, madiera and prune-plum flat and un-inviting, a sweet, desserty-chocolate filling the nose with bruised cherry and flat berry chubbing up the bouquet. Sharp decedents of fruit remnants run along vermouth pathways of obsolescence.
Tasting it invigorates a few pathways of interest… I mean: if you consider “tired and bland” a qualifier for aged beauty. This is something #winebro would call “powerfully fruited and young-feeling” in his typical jerk-off routine towards bottles way past prime. Saggy flesh and tone-less curves spark machinations of far-gone beauty memories. Thinly fruited–and what there is: acidic and stark–with sawdust tannins and vapid, shrill mouthfeel going nowhere fast. Glad I didn’t energetically stock up on these because awesome deal and iconic label; I know many who did and continue to plaudit their viability. There’s just nothing here.
1996 YORK CREEK VINEYARDS ‘Meritage’ Spring Mt. Napa Valley 13.0
Stephen McConnell 