Which California Cali Cab vintage do you prefer? 96 or 97

WINE TALK
21

1996 is awesome. I’ve yet to have a bad wine from it recently. And they are so full of life. I’ve had a lot of excellent 1997s, but they do seem to evolving a shade faster. I haven’t had experiences with wines falling off the radar by aging so quickly … but still. For my money of that era, though, 1994 is awfully hard to beat.

22

To play devil’s advocate here, is there any chance some of the preferences toward the 96 vintage can be attributed to the lower expectation of this vintage relative to 97? Obviously the inverse would be true of the ridiculously high expectations of the 97 vintage. I have enjoyed far more 97 than 96 solely due to the reputation of the 97’s - i.e. I bought and drank way more 97. I basically stumbled upon (for lack of a better term) some 96’s that really wowed me - was it because I expected very little from them or were they really that good? Just a thought…

23

I really don’t think so. I wasn’t paying much attention to wine in the mid-90s, as I was busy drinking down my cellar. I don’t pay attention to the ratings. My opinion is based upon what I’ve drunk. And the '96s have been superior to the '97s.

24

Last night for a pre-Mother’s Day dinner we opened the [drinkers.gif] 1996 and 1997 Araujo “Eisele.” FWIW, the Eisele vineyard has been Diana’s favorite vineyard since the 1971 Ridge “Eisele.” It was served with a mesquite grilled prime rib. Upon opening (and decanting) both, the '96 immediately stood out with the classic Eisele plum, currant and cedar nose. However, as the wines stood around in the decanter, the '97 seemed to add a richness that was just “slightly” missing from the '96. With time, the '97 developed a bit more texture and was declared the “winner” by all three of us. In reality, they are both excellent wines and neither is in any danger of fading in the near future. They both showed rather young. [d_training.gif] As a matter of fact, I probably will not open any more of these for at least a couple of years.


Cheers!
Marshall [cheers.gif]