A pretty quiet New Year's Eve this year (for once). I had a couple friends over and decided that it would be fun to have a little vertical tasting of the Hess. I had very high hopes for the '92, as it was a 94 point wine and WS #2 WOTY in 1995 (I think that's right). '93 and '94 were never spectacular wines wines but were good drinks and I had hoped that they would have developed some secondary nuances.
Three strikes and out. None of the wines showed well at all. All were dismal bottles, lacking in fruit, freshness, character and complexity. None of the three showed much bricking. All were similar in flavor profiles--faded black currant, cherry, dried herbal flavors. Very monolithic. Moderate finish. These guys were all very tired. Perhaps they would have been better a few years ago but I thought Hess could lay down up to ten years (especially the '92). I was wrong and have learned a valuable lesson. First, buy better wine (which I do now) and drink wines before they go over the hill. Oh well, live and learn.
The '92 was the best of the lot at about 86 points. The '94 was second best at 84 points and the '93 merited about 83 points.
************ "I've gotta be honest with you, guys. I need more cowbell."
I'm surprised by your notes. I haven't had all the vintages you mention but have had each of the '91, '93, and '95 Hess Collections several times. All have shown better than I expected.
Posts: 1453 | Location: Columbus, OH<-->Chicago, IL | Registered: Oct 30, 2002
You are right about your tatsing experiance with Hess. It is a dissapointment every time I open a bottle (1992&1997). I don't buy tose wines annymore (but that is the case with a lot of Californian wines). For the real tatse I stick to European Wines!
quote:Originally posted by mletson: A pretty quiet New Year's Eve this year (for once). I had a couple friends over and decided that it would be fun to have a little vertical tasting of the Hess. I had very high hopes for the '92, as it was a 94 point wine and WS #2 WOTY in 1995 (I think that's right). '93 and '94 were never spectacular wines wines but were good drinks and I had hoped that they would have developed some secondary nuances.
Three strikes and out. None of the wines showed well at all. All were dismal bottles, lacking in fruit, freshness, character and complexity. None of the three showed much bricking. All were similar in flavor profiles--faded black currant, cherry, dried herbal flavors. Very monolithic. Moderate finish. These guys were all very tired. Perhaps they would have been better a few years ago but I thought Hess could lay down up to ten years (especially the '92). I was wrong and have learned a valuable lesson. First, buy better wine (which I do now) and drink wines before they go over the hill. Oh well, live and learn.
The '92 was the best of the lot at about 86 points. The '94 was second best at 84 points and the '93 merited about 83 points.
************ "I've gotta be honest with you, guys. I need more cowbell."
You are a funny man, Roland! I should take your advice. For the record, the wines were not horrible--just boring. Perhaps my expectations were too high.
************ "I've gotta be honest with you, guys. I need more cowbell."
Funny? Maybe! (thank you for the compliment) I am quit seriuos indeed. But it is all a matter of taste. "Hess" probably is not my taste! The pronounced "Hess" tatse is not so special in my opinion. And regarding European wines in the same league "Hess" is fairly overpriced.
I had a bottle of the 94 Hess Collection Meritage earlier this fall and found it to be wonderful. Here are my notes from an earlier post:
quote: 1994 Hess Collection Meritage: Bought this at the winery earlier this year. Dark cranberry color with medium clarity. Big nose of candied cherries and other dark fruits. Soft, silky smooth on the pallet with candied cherries over and oaky vanilia spice backbone. Soft, elegant and so smooth all the way to the fine grained ceadery tanins on the finnish. This was an outstanding wine with so much sweet fruit, impecable balance, and rich, chewy body. I wish I could get more! 94pts
Perhaps the bottles you tried had seen some less than optimum storage conditions?
quote: Good wine, good food, good friends - what else do you need?
I'm a little suprised the '94 was over the hill considering the vintage. I don't have any Hess wines left earlier than '97 but maybe I'll open one of the '97 wines to see how it's drinking considering your experience. Thanks for the notes.
Scotty, unfortunately, the wines were stored properly, so I cannot blame the poor showing on storage. Perhaps they could have been "off" bottles but that would seem unlikely. I also think it's quite possible that the wines' style no longer appeals to me.
Emilio, the '97 drinks fine right now. Still rough and tannic. After tasting these earlier vintages, I wonder if the fruit will still have enough life once the tannins resolve themselves. With the earlier vintages, there was still fruit but very little complexity (that's my biggest complaint with those bottles).
************ "I've gotta be honest with you, guys. I need more cowbell."
Prompted by this thread I also had a 94 last night. I'm with KoH on this one, in short it rocks. Sure it's not as bold as it was a year after release, but it's a very nice wine developing secondary flavors and showing no real signs of distress. I've always enjoyed the Hess cabs in the past and have had Hess wines in the last year or so dating back to 1983 w/o disappointment. I will try one of the 1987's, 1990's, or 1992's I have soon and report the finding.
CabNut
Posts: 448 | Location: NH | Registered: Feb 06, 2002
here is my posting on a bottle of the 97 hess collection from 9/20/03...
"anyone out there popped a bottle of the 97 hess collection lately? i only had 2 bottles left, and opened one recently when a friend was in town and we grilled some porterhouses. it was definitely an off bottle. nose seemed OK (though not as deep as i would have expected), but the taste was wrong. wouldn't say it was corked, more likely cooked i'd guess (but not badly so. it was drinkable). flavors weren't distinct at all, and it had a bit of an earthy/musty component to it. just a major disappointment. i only have 1 bottle left now and i'm not sure how long to wait to open it. and wonder what i will find when i do."
i should point out however, that i have had several bottles that i bought from this wine shop that turned out to be bad. store's now out of business, leaving me without about $200 in cooked wines. although i'm not sure what the deal was with this particular bottle of hess. my 5/28/02 TN from another bottle of the 97 (bought from the same store at same time) was much more encouraging:
"Finally decided to try one of the four bottles of this that I have in storage. Opaque, purplish black. Decanted for 1 hour. Big nose of plums, cassis, cedar and alcohol. Taste of black cherry, plums, cedar, cassis. Big entry and midpalate, good finish. Medium tannins. This wine is a tasty mouthful and I bet will improve for the next 3-5 years. 90+"
I do agree thatthe halves of 1994 seem to have improved in a nicer way than the 0,75 bottles.
But stil Hess is not a consistant producer in my opinion.
After 1999 I did not buy any. They just do not convince me.
I stik to Europe! And for comparing flavour to wthat I aspect from Hess. This the the right bank Bordeuax. Especially the ones with quit a bit Cab.F and Cab.S added to the Merlot. As you know teroir plays a big role here And the right bank with majority Merlot tatse completely different form the merlot of CA.
Drank the 1994 Hess Collection last night.After reading contrasting reports on the wine, I wasn't sure what to expect. Tight upon opening, a nice blackcurrant aroma emerged after 1/2 hour in the glass. Full body, concentrated taste of blackcurrant and touch of mint, finishing with fine tannins on a long finish.Enjoyable wine that can use a little more time in the cellar. 90pts.
