After a weekend involving ripping out the kitchen (we’re doing a complete renovation, image below shows new washer/dryer!). it was nice to open a 30 year old wine in a pre-celebration for Kim’s upcoming birthday! Here are a few pics of the renovation, as well as the tasting note on the wine. Explanations for the tasting note are at the end!

1978 Freemark Abbey Cabernet Bosche Vineyard: Stood up for two weeks in the cellar to let the sediment collect. Light seepage which worried me. The cork came out perfectly in one piece. Decanted very gently only to remove sediment of which there was a significant amount. In the glass the wine reddish with some bricking. The nose had sweet scents with some rhubarb and earth. Surprisingly the wine wasn’t maderized or gone. After 10 minutes in the glass fruits emerged, although very subtle, blackberry. The wine begins actually quite nice, but falls apart near the finish when the tannins that survived show up as well as a big mouthful of coffee. Long over the hill but still drinkable. Overall I was happy with the bottle! My Rating: 85 pts

• Standing the wine up: When you are preparing to drink an older wine, it’s always recommended you stand the bottle up for a few weeks to allow the sediment to collect at the bottom of the bottle.
• Decanting very gently over candlelight, will allow you to pour only the wine into the decanter while keeping the sediment where it belongs, in the bottle!
• A wine that is “maderized” has been “baked” (oxidized) and suffers from a tangy, acidic profile.
• Wines that are “over the hill” have surpassed their suggested drinking window and can be either drinkable or far beyond anything palatable.