My niece (born in 1984) is getting married.
I'm looking to buy a 1984 bottle of red wine.
Preferably well known Californian brand but I don't want to celebrate with swill either.
Any recommendations on what to buy and where to buy it? I would like to keep it below $250.

Thanks in advance.

I'm located in Chicago if that helps at all?

go to www.winesearcher.com and leave the name of the wine blank and type in 1984 for the vintage. You will get quite a few returns. 1984 was rated a 94 pt year by Wine Spectator for California Cabs and they recommend a drinking window of "drink". 20 years is a long time for a Cali Cab so your idea of sticking with a big name wine is a good idea. I have had the 1984 Montalena, but the last time was about 5 years ago so I don't have an opinion about how it's drinking now. It was excellent the last time I had it. Good luck and if you do single out a particular vinter from the list, post it here and I'm sure that others will chime in with their tasting notes and or experiences.

ks

I've had a few bottles of the 1984 Beringer Private Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon - last one about a year ago, and thought it was terrific. Also greatly enjoyed the 1984 Dunn Howell Mountain and the 1984 Silver Oak Napa Valley. The latter is the last bottle of 1984 Cab I have in my cellar.

" Also greatly enjoyed the 1984 Dunn Howell Mountain "

Ditto

I can offer you the following.Beringer P.R.,
Duckhorn,Far Niente,Forman,Grgich.Mt.Eden,J.Phelps
Eisele,Silver Oak, Spottswoode, etc. e-mail me at
ronlight@comcast.net

Ron

I would pick one of the following:

Dunn Howell Mt.
Caymus Special Selection
Ch. Montelena
Beringer Pvt. Rsv.
Spottswoode
Heitz Martha's Vineyard

I would suggest the Montelena. Wine Spectator rated it 93 points in 1999 and its drinking window is drink now to 2007. Dunn is also excellant.

Concur with those suggesting a Beringer Private Reserve or Chateau Montelena. Two consistently reliable standards with good life spans for Cal cabs. With luck you can get one of each for your $250. As an alternative, an '84 Beringer "Chabot" I had a few years back was excellent, but I suspect the PR is slightly better.

Life is not measured by the number of breaths we take, but by the number of things that take our breath away.

[This message was edited by bokchoy on Jul 11, 2004 at 07:43 PM.]

[This message was edited by bokchoy on Jul 11, 2004 at 07:44 PM.]

The Connoisseurs Guide to California Wine(no connection here- i just trust them implicitly) recently had a retrospective tasting of the 84 Cabs. The two wines that they were most impressed with were Beinger PR and Spottswoode. By the way Lightron I know the wines was not offerred to me- but I notice that you're local. If I could buy a Spottswoode email me at winemook@comcast.net.


http://www.castroonline.com/spectrum/winemook.html

try to find the Ridge Montebello
Def not over the hill, 95pts Ws / 95 pts RP
Readily available I believe in the range you are looking for (even if you need to order)

I'd go with the Dunn Howell Mtn. as well. You should be able to pick this up on winecommune for a good price.

-----------------------
I'm what Willis was talking about!

Right after I wrote this post, I was perusing the latest K&L Wines mailer. They have:

1984 B.V. GdL @ $85
1984 Beringer PR @ $119
1984 Dominus @ $119.20
1984 Dunn HM @ $119.20
1984 Girard Reserve @ $50
1984 Laurel Glen @ $70
1984 Ridge MB @ $127.20
and a 5 liter of 1984 Silver Oak (Alex Vy) @ $999

If you buy the Silver Oak, invite me to the party -- that was from when Silver Oak was worth bragging about.

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I'm what Willis was talking about!

quote:

---

Originally posted by Sociando-Dehlinger:
The Connoisseurs Guide to California Wine(no connection here- i just trust them implicitly) recently had a retrospective tasting of the 84 Cabs. The two wines that they were most impressed with were Beinger PR and Spottswoode. By the way Lightron I know the wines was not offerred to me- but I notice that you're local. If I could buy a Spottswoode email me at winemook@comcast.net.


http://www.castroonline.com/spectrum/winemook.html

---

Ron

I could not reach you at your comcast address. Please "mook ?" contact me at above address. RON


http://www.castroonline.com/spectrum/winemook.html[/QUOTE]

Ron

I have not asked Lightron's permission on this, but I'm going to proceed anyway.....

For those of you who do not know Lightron. He is a wine collector with impecable care and consideration for his cellar. For those of you considering purchasing from him, provenance should be of NO WORRY to you. I wouldn't doubt if most, if not everything in his collection has been in his posession since release, and very well cared for. I've transacted with him before, and have received wine of exceptional caliber because of this.

Cheers!

-DRAB

So much wine.....so little time!!!

Ditto what DRAB said.

---------------------------
www.winebid.com
2004 Whirlwind Tour

I'll second the '84 Monte Bello. I had this about 1 1/2 years ago and it was drinking great. It definately had not started to fade.