Staglin Cabernet 1997

It's good to have friends with deep cellars and Friday night was a great example.  They called early Friday afternoon with a dinner invitation.  They were just coming out of a month of hospital visits for relatives, grand kids birthday parties and a number of completed projects.  "Let's grill a steak, drink some wine and sit on on the patio."  That's a recipe for a nearly perfect evening.

The wine he pulled out was a 1997 Staglin Family vineyards, Rutherford Cabernet Sauvignon, a wine I have tasted on several occasions.  The last time was a couple of years ago and it was a disappointment.  You can read about that here.

At that point I made a remark that I was going to put my remaining bottle away for a couple of years just to see what happened with even more time in the bottle.  What I was expecting was for the wine to continue going downhill. 

This bottle, though, turned out to be the proverbial horse of a different color.  This wine was rich and fruity, with a taste of mature fruit as opposed to young fruit.  Lots of currants and black cherry flavors with some graphite overtones and earthiness to it.  This bottle was balanced with acid, tannin, and flavor.  The oak was totally integrated and gave the wine a tiny bit of vanilla, but threw in some cinnamon to go along with it.  There was a long finish that ended with a sweet, earthy taste.  Quite a good wine and by the time the steaks were ready there were only a few sips to go with the food.   

13.8% and $70 when it was released more than ten years ago.