1984 Niebaum-Coppola Rubicon, a Bordeaux blend out of the Napa Valley. Well, actually, it should be from Rutherford, a sub-appellation within Napa Valley, as the grapes were grown on the estate in Rutherford, but Rutherford didn't become a designated area until 1991 so the label lists Napa as the origin of the grapes. Also, the winery has changed its name from Niebaum-Coppola (highlighting the winery's founder, Gustauve Niebaum, who started the winery as Inglenook in 1880, and current proprietor, Francis Ford Coppola, who bought most of the land owned by the winery in 1975 with profits from The Godfather) to Rubicon Estates.
Don't know the alcohol on this one, the label doesn't say (labeling laws weren't as strict back then as they are now), but I'm guessing it's somewhere between 12-13% abv (California wines were very much not the alcoholic bombs they can be today). Brick-colored, still with a bit of dark red in the center. The aromas I'm getting include cassis, black cherry, tobacco, leather, pencil lead, and a nice hit of that Rutherford Dust. The flavors include cassis, black cherry, leather forest floor, clove, anise, and a hint of black olive on the finish. As the wine opens, the black olive character dissipates. Man, the tannins are still here... they belie the wine's age. Nicely balanced with the acid as well... this wine was shown some love in its past, as its holding up incredibly well for being the same age I am.
This has a lot of the same subtleties as a good Bordeaux and it shows what once was and what can still be strived for with California Cabernet: a balanced, medium-alcohol wine with good fruit and undertones of earth, spice, etc., not the big, brash, overripe, in-you-face nuclear attack of fruit and alcohol that most of them are today... I mean look at Caymus... it has that modern hedonistic, berries-drenched-in-vanilla flavor, which can be nice, but their Cabernet usually tops out at over 15% alcohol... that's not a Cab percentage, that's a jammy Zin...
How poetic!
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