RED WINE TASTE-OFF

Wine

How do the 1983 and 1984 Bordeaux and Cabernet Sauvignon stack up?

JOEL L. FLEISHMAN

Wine tastings should not be reported as if they were simply horse races, with the winners declared according to the order in which contestants cross the finish line on a particular day, a day which is sui generis, never coming around again. Wine consumers also need to know which contestants are likely to taste best a year from now, as well as five to ten years from now. That is why the tastings for this column involve not only a sampling immediately upon opening but also retastings three, six, and eighteen to twenty-four hours later. The continuous oxidation of wines exposed to air at room temperature can approximate how wines will taste both during the intermediate term and over the long run. If a young wine fades quickly in the glass, it is unlikely to survive long in the bottle. But if it holds its flavors for a day or two, it is almost certainly a keeper. If a wine tastes more and more glorious the longer it airs (within reason), the better it is likely to taste five to ten years from now, and beyond.

The 1983 and 1984 reds from Bordeaux and California included in this month's taste-off are listed by flight, ranked in the order of quality on first opening. Some of the ones that initially showed particularly well fell totally apart later, while others sustained their attractiveness through all three retastings. Still others, which were unappealing initially, had evolved beautifully eighteen hours later. Bordeaux partisans are fearful about early tastings of their young wines of the greatest years, since the tannins can be mouth-bursting, but that was not the problem with the Bordeaux of 1984 (not a great year) included in this tasting. Some were lovely at first; none lasted, even presentably, to the first retasting.

Ten wineries achieved best-of-tasting status. Prizewinners for all seasons—near, intermediate, and long—are, in order of quality, Dunn Howell Mountain, Joseph Phelps Backus, Buehler, Cakebread, Groth, and Frog's Leap. For the near term only, the Spottswoode cannot be equaled. For the near and intermediate terms, the Beringer Private Reserve and the two Girards are superb. The Forman should not be missed if you have the patience to wait up to a decade for an extraordinary Cabernet. Eighteen hours after opening, it had evolved into a gorgeous wine of the freshest cassis flavor imaginable, infused with tobacco and framed by the silver of mint.

After conducting the tasting reported here, I visited Spottswoode for a vertical tasting of all four of its Cabernet vintages bottled so far—1982 to 1985. Each one is magnificent. The 1983, which can still be found occasionally in the best wine stores and on some restaurant lists, is a massive wine of velvet texture with intense, concentrated blackberry, cassis, and violet flavors, classically sculptured and perfectly balanced. The 1984 (the one in the tasting for this column) is less massive but more supple in shape and forward in its flavors, suggesting an early-maturing wine. The 1985, an opulent, rich, powerful, forward, but also long-lingering wine with the same violets and velvet, can be ordered as futures from the winery for delivery in the fall of 1988. Because the total production is limited to two thousand cases, buying now is the only sure way of acquiring some. Orders may be placed only on Tuesdays and Thursdays between nine and four by calling the winery at 707963-0134, with a maximum purchase of two cases.

Flight one: 1983 Lyeth Alexander Valley Red Table Wine ($17); 1984 Chateau Lynch-Bages Pauillac ($20); 1984 Groth Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon ($13); 1984 Chateau Margaux Margaux ($37); 1983 Joseph Phelps Backus Vineyard Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon ($16.50); 1984 Chateau Mouton Rothschild Pauillac ($37); 1983 Neyers Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon ($11.75).

Flight two: 1984 Spottswoode Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon ($25); 1984 Cakebread Cellars Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon ($16); 1983 Newton Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon ($12.50); 1983 La Jota Vineyard Co. Howell Mountain Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon ($15); 1984 Monticello Cellars Jefferson Cuv6e Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon ($10.75); 1984 Chateau Clerc Milon Pauillac ($15); 1984 Chateau Pichon Longueville Comtesse de Lalande Pauillac ($25); 1982 Jean-Pierre Moueix Saint Emilion ($8).

Flight three: 1984 Buehler Vineyards Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon ($12); 1983 Dunn Vineyards Howell Mountain Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon ($20); 1984 Frog's Leap Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon ($13.50); 1983 Dunn Vineyards Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon ($13.50); 1984 Forman Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon ($18); 1984 Beringer Vineyards • Knights Valley Cabernet Sauvignon ($12); 1983 Maitre D'Estournel Rouge ($6).

Flight four: 1984 Beringer Vineyards Private Reserve Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon ($22); 1983 Girard Reserve Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon ($20); 1984 Whitehall Lane Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon ($14); 1984 Girard Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon ($14); 1984 Conn Creek Private Reserve Collins Vineyard Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon ($25); 1984 Philip Togni Vineyard Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon ($18); 1983 Chateau Montelena Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon ($16); 1984 Laurel Glen Vineyard Sonoma Mountain Cabernet Sauvignon ($15).