(retasted at Mondavi) Very good full medium ruby. Currant, black cherry, roast coffee, cedar, leather, tobacco, truffle and black olive on the flamboyant nose. Sappy, youthfully tight flavors of currant and tobacco leaf, with a faint gamey nuance. Very ripe and rich but adamantly dry. Strong finish features big, ripe tannins. A superb bottle, far closer in character to my memory of this wine than the more politely styled example shown at the group tasting.

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This extraordinary wine is backward and unevolved, but even neophytes will recognize its potential greatness. The opaque, saturated, dark purple color reveals no sign of age. The huge, smoky, oaky, blackcurrant, herb, and vanillin-scented nose only hints at what will be achieved with further evolution. Sweet, decadently rich, dense, highly extracted flavors are wrapped around a full-bodied, chewy, super-concentrated, moderately tannic wine that, ideally, needs 7-8 more years of cellaring. It is a 25 to 30 year California Cabernet Sauvignon that is just beginning to become civilized. A potential legend in the making!

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Dark, ripe and intense, with a rich core of cedar, currant, anise and spice flavors, finishing with a firm tannic edge. Impressive for its detailed, integrated flavors and fine balance.--1987 California Cabernet horizontal.

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Ridge component tasting with Brian & Brian. Tasted alongside '89 Pichon-Baron. Outstanding old California Cab.