I continue to be surprised by the slow aging trajectory of California wines, or at least the ones from good producers made in or prior to the early 1990's. I'm not talking about Cabernet here, which of course has the capacity to age well for a few decades, but about Pinot Noir, Zinfandel, and even Chardonnay. Incidentally, I had three bottles of Cronin Chardonnay a few weeks ago: an '85 Napa which was dead, an '85 Alex Valley (probably Stuhlmuller vineyard) which still had rich, tasty golden fruit and plenty of life, and an '84 Santa Cruz Mtn that also was lively and bright, with lovely acidity. Well in the past few days I have had some more old California wine, one which I expected a lot from and one of which I expected little, if anything, of interest.
Let's start with high expectations first. The '92 Mount Eden Edna Valley Pinot was part of a cellar recently purchased by K&L. Since it was not produced from the venerable estate's prized Santa Cruz Mountain fruit, we were retailing the wine for a modest $19.99. The color showed relatively young, with just a touch of bricking. Deep aromas of plum, dark cherries and spice carried over to the palate, but fruit was all there was. Ripe, bordering on sweet Edna Valley fruit. Definitely still there, but without any complexity or the amount of acidity I enjoy in Pinot Noir. A bit of heat on the finish (13.6% abv). It tasted better with sauteed chicken breasts, but still a bit of a disappointment. I guess that's what you get for expecting a lot from a Pinot Noir grown from grapes at a lattitude similar to that of Sevilla.
Now for the surprise showing. The 1983 Scharffenberger Brut was pretty good! I imagine the grapes came from the Anderson Valley. Some funky, impure, elmer's glue type aromas eventually blew off to reveal spicy apple pie notes, with some toffee and lemon curd as well. On the palate the wine had a soft bead, but still with enough effervescence to refresh. Decent attack, lacking a good bit in the mid-palate, but with a very cleansing, lemony, acidity on the finish. Simple but rather tasty. Well worth the $10 closeout bin price tag. Am I going crazy here or does moderately priced California sparkling wine from long ago actually age well?
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2 comments:
You know, now that you mention it Joe, I've never had a CA sparkling wine with more than a few years of age to it. I have, though, tasted a handful of older whites that have survived amazingly well. Chardonnays and Rieslings from Stony Hill Vineyard come immediately to mind, although there's really no surprise there. But I also poured several bottles of 1985 Trefethen Chardonnay at an event not long ago. Three of the five bottles were still quite good.
As for non-Cab reds, I haven't had much luck with older Pinot Noir but have drunk Zinfandels from Ridge and a handful of other producers that have far outlived their expected drinking windows.
Stony Hill, yes. I have had them with several years age, but not more than that. Would love to try some really old SHV Chard and Riesling one of these days.
For the older PN, if you happen across Kalin Cellars, Joseph Swan, Santa Cruz Mountain Vineyards or Mt Eden Estate (the Santa Cruz bottling, not Edna valley) then any of these could be well worth a shot. Even back to the 70's.
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