Sterling Vineyards, Cabernet Sauvignon, Calistoga

Wine Mafia Dinner @ Madre : Surprise of the evening. They just made them differently in the '70s. I feel like this had held up much better than a lot of 80's Napa Cabs I've had. Suave, elegant, clearly fully mature. Was a treat.

1979 vintage

A top section

1969 vintage

Blunted nose no fruit smooth short finish No body Very drinkable the next day Nothing special nice smooth finish

2001 vintage

A nose of mint, chocolate and tobacco. It has something sweet and vinous at its core. There's a hint of spruce and earth. It is mid-weight with tannins that have all but folded into the wine. There's a gentle kiss of acidity to the finish. Not particularly deep or long, but very pleasant.

1979 vintage

Cloudy but Ruby, Garnett color. Starting with mint & graphite scents moving into plum & cherry. There is still some brightness with cherry & blackberry.

2001 vintage

Plum and boysenberry. Not memorable. Too long in my inventory.

2012 vintage

Medium to deep garnet, almost tawny. Like a well conditioned athlete, it’s tired but very much still on its feet and in the race. It’s form is suffering but it’s impressive and I’m on its side. Surprisingly bright on the nose. Lively berry fruit and cedar and graphite. Those French barrels endure. There’s a marked flabbiness here though. At first it was too porty and seemed almost icky sweet, which I wasn’t expecting--that same flavor I don't like with the …

1992 vintage

Full body and nicely balanced. Plum and boysenberry.

2012 vintage

My last tasting note on this bottle of wine. This was the most satidfying :taste yet of the little wine that was left in the nitrogen preserved bottle. This time I swirled it vigorously to off gas any remsining off tastes and odors. Lo and behold...the wolderful old wine underneath finally fully revealed itself. Earth, tea leaves moss, delicate, soft, dusty fruit...a couple of swallows and its all gone...but enough to give it the rating it finally deserves. Amazing how …

1969 vintage

Tasted the same wine as two days ago but from a nitrogen filled almost empty bottle. It took much less time to get up to 89pts...probably because the near empty bottle allowed the more unpleasant flavors to offgas into the nitrogen space before I poured it this time. Very earthy with some minerally. Dry and low on dusty red fruit. Definitely an older wine but quite respectible for its age and unknown provenance.

1969 vintage

Very interesting tasting experience. I bought this wine as part of an inexpensive auction lot of two cases of old mixed wines of varying vintages and grape varieties. I had no idea how the bottles had been stored. They were mostly dirty on the outside and covered in dust. This one is the first and only bottle I have opened so far. There are two or three other 1969 Sterling CS's in the lot with better labels and fill levels. …

1969 vintage

Cork exploded, sediment throughout. One taste and down the drain

2003 vintage

Fruit has mostly faded, but nice cedar nose, balanced, elegant, nice balancing acidity. Delicious.

1986 vintage

Surprisingly still vibrant. Integrated tannins, good fruit and acidity. Nuances of tobacco.

1986 vintage

Way past its prime. Color was brown. Went down the drain.

1980 vintage

very nice and age is helping; plenty of life left with pungent and pleasantly different nose of spices, anise, clove and palate of black currant, cola, and licorice.... finish a bit flat but overall really good effort

2012 vintage

Rich sweet currant, plum, cassis and fine tannins leading to a long sweet finish

2012 vintage

My last bottle. Decanted a few hours ahead. Silken mouthfeel, drinks like a $200 cab. Bottles I'd had several years earlier needed time, and wow, did that pay off.

2012 vintage

Still surprisingly good for this much age on this level of wine. Deep ruby color, medium body and fruit still intact.

1999 vintage

A typical entry level Napa Cab. Not so interesting on pop and pour but after a few hours it opened up and some nice fruit flavors coming out, a long cherry finish. My only bottle of this—pleasant but I wouldn’t be that excited to drink again. Good not great.

2012 vintage

Decades of Decadence - "The 9's" (Buellton, CA) : Aromas of leather glove, seeming whiff of TCA that seemed to integrate, cassis, clove, and cassis. Nice elegance with depth of earth, spices and florals. Giving nice tertiary pleasure with pleasant supporting fruit.

1989 vintage

Decades of Decadence -- the '9' Edition (Our Favorite Spot in Buellton, CA) : A faded beauty, understandably not giving much direct pleasure at this point, but the remnants of the acid and the fruit do convey the inherent quality to good effect.

1989 vintage

Very fortunate these wines were in great condition. Opened, decanted, rinsed bottle, and put back in bottle. Served after open for two hours. Nice, lighter body, lighter red fruit. Mellow but still extremely drinkable at 50 years old. Made for a great wine tasting experience to celebrate a milestone birthday.

1969 vintage

Good!

2012 vintage

Found in a corner of my cellar, this wine is definitely over the hill, but was very tasty, if not overly complex. Black fruit, tar, and camphor on the nose, followed by mulberry/plum fruit flavors. A little heat on the end, but for what it cost, and it’s age, it was pretty darn good.

1984 vintage

Winebar [4 Whites, 8 Reds, & 8 *shared* bottles] from 06/14/19 (Vintage Wines Ltd., San Diego, CA) : Joaquin, THANK you *so* MUCH for sharing this iconic wine! :) N: Closed; Toast, berries, but rest tough to parse P: LM body; Lovely, ALMOST swtish frt met by some astringent pucker which fairly seamlessly evolves into a LONG, balanced finish with an attractive tangy/swtness to the very, VERY fine, firming tannins. LOVELY stuff for now & poss even approaching its 40th? …

1986 vintage

Received many wines 25+ year old from a cellar that were all laid down but temp and humidity less than stellar and many of unknown provenance. That said this wine was one of the better ones with a good cork deep ruby color and light bricking on the rim. Some faded dark fruit and some secondary notes of tobacco and leather that made it an enjoyable wine to experience and drink. I was given chance to be the "guinea pig" …

1992 vintage

Horribly corked

2012 vintage

Big fruit, tannins, acid, but seemed overly oaked for my taste.

2012 vintage

Nice bouquet, continued to evolve even with the limited Lindy�s stemware

2012 vintage

Drank WAY too late. Only good for cooking wine now. Not completely gone, surprisingly coherent. Just not pleasant 10 years too late.

1999 vintage

Very beautiful wine

2012 vintage

Notes of cherry and espresso on nose, medium body with earthy tones, slightly imbalanced acidic finish.

2012 vintage

The jammiest cab I've had in many a year......gobs of blackberry, black raspberry, black currant and any other black berry thingie I can't think of.....a bit sweet and not a lot of depth or complexity but a decent cab. Wondering how it would do in 5-10 years but this is my last one.

2012 vintage

This wine was fairly muted upon opening, let breathe for approx. 30 mins and then poured. After decant, the nose was lacking in primary fruit (which was not necessarily a bad thing) and resembled more of an old world claret. Dark berries, cassis, pencil shavings, some game. Palate followed suit with the addition o some creamy notes from the oak influence that were complimentary. The fruit was secondary and stayed in the rear through the medium finish. This was beautiful …

2012 vintage

Although 48 years old and subject to 5 moves, this wine, which we decanted was light and had excellent touch to the pallet. Was enjoyed by all. There is light sediment in the bottle.

1969 vintage

Ok cab. Nothing more.

2012 vintage

Better than expected. 88 from me, 86 from spouse. Very fruit forward

2012 vintage

Good but for the price not great. I didn't have the disappointing experience others seem to have had recently. This is smooth and full and rich -- allegedly this is just 3% Zinfandel, but I would, blind, call this as a majority Zin. No edges, so a little shapeless, but a very good company for stir fried broccoli raab and sun dried tomatoes.

2012 vintage

Very nice dark Ruby color . Well balanced with medium tannins and nice understated oak. Nice fruit with velvety mouth. Very nice wine at this price point, wish I could find more of this 2012

2012 vintage

Left it too long. Sigh. Undrinkable.

1999 vintage

Somewhat agree with Cristal2000's recent note, has backtracked a little from last year. Still a good wine, but very calm and easy drinking, and not a whole lot of time left. Didn't get the astringic bite noted though.

2012 vintage

Had this with a Ribeye at a nice steakhouse. Complemented the meal very well

2012 vintage

Very smooth, easy drinking. Buy again

2012 vintage

Pleasant overall. Not a heavy Cab. Red berries, espresso, vanilla and spice.

2012 vintage

Sadly this bottle was very different than my previous experience. The acid was biting, and made it astringent and difficult to drink. Had it over the course of two days and only got worse for me. Hopefully it was an off bottle, but it didn't seem to be. It's definitely regressed since the first bottle I opened. Maybe a phase.

2012 vintage

Abbrev. Note: Good grape. Much better than when I purchased in May 2015.

2012 vintage

A very good wine for the price point. Lean dark fruit, dark cherries, berries, ripe plum, figs, good concentration and firm tannins. A pleasing, and very nice mid-week wine that truly compeats with wines twice the price. I will also say this 2012 has developed very nicely in the last several months from my last tasting it. 92.5 Points.

2012 vintage

Light nose, medium body, slightly imbalanced with tannins, notes of black berries and currants, good finish

2012 vintage

Got too old

2001 vintage

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Sterling Vineyards, Cabernet Sauvignon, Calistoga

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