A fun evening of birthday celebrations for 2 friends....

'00 Seavy Cab.

Not bad for a weak vintage. Dark blood red in color. Notes of cassis, black cherry, sandalwood, black pepper, and a toasty oak finish. All around a nice CA Cab. Nothing mindblowing, but a solid performance. 90 pts.

'76 Mayacamas Cab. (out of magnum)

Dark opaque ruby red in color. Slight ambering at the edges, but barely. The cork showed NO signs of seepage, and the wine was in pristine condition. This lived up to all the hype. On the nose, notes of black olive, underbrush, black plum, wet earth, and briary blackberry. A sweet glycerin filled palate of juicy plum, creme de cassis, provencial herbs, wet earth, minerals, and cedar. Moderate/long finish with a decent amount of tannin left for further aging, although I think this is at it's peak right now (and it was out of magnum). This drank well over the 2 hours it took to drain the bottle. Awesome aged CA Cab. 94 pts.

Dr. D, thanks for the note. 1976 is my birth year and I might try and track one down. I had a 1978 Mayacamas about 6 months ago and for a short period of time the bottle was showing great. It was out of a 750, and started out very closed up. After about 1/2 hour it was an amazing wine, showing tons of fruit, cassis, chocolate, and tar/leather. Then shortly thereafter it fell apart. Can't wait to try another.

I just recently picked up a bottle of the 91, so your notes bode well for a few more years of aging! Thanks!

Chilly...

If you can't find one, let me know, I might be able to spare an extra.

Cheers,

-DRAB

DRAB,

I might be interested in taking you up on the offer. The big 30 is my next B-Day and it might be fun to celebrate with a birth year wine. The last birth year wine I had was a Rieussec and it was incredible.

CW

Just let me know...

Have you tried the '76 d'Yquem yet? That's another nice one. I've been interested in getting the '76 Grange, but those have been priced too high for me....

Cheers!