I was weary heading into this. I always love Burgess, but wasn't sure if this bottle was built to go the distance. After all, it's a 45-year-old wine at this point. And apparently Howell Mountain fruit.
Opened and drank right away, didn't want to decant for fear of damaging the wine. Fill level was perfect, but this definitely needed a Durand to open up. Cork surprisingly intact.
Thankfully, no brett or VA on this.
This is a surprisingly complex wine, at least on the nose, with red cherry, blueberry, cranberry, chocolate, coffee grounds, maybe some cinnamon.
The evolution of this is really fun.
Initially, not that exciting, but even after ten minutes in the glass, it evolved nicely and showed some layers.
A little thinner on the palate, but also really nice acidity.
I find drinking aged Napa wines in good condition is a rarity and it's hard to put a score on this.
For sure, this is a wine that is past its peak, but definitely not over the hill. In fact, I have two more bottles and I'm sure they can last several years.
13.5% ABV, relatively tame by modern Napa standards.
92 points.
by rnjbond
3 Comments
Thank you for this.
Gorgeous color, thanks for the review.
1980 isn’t 45 years ago, that would mean th-
… oh no.