1970 Robert Mondavi Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon

With respect to older vintages, in October I tasted three of Mondavi's more renowned Cabernet Sauvignons. The 1970 Unfiltered Cabernet Sauvignon (rated 94 points) is a gorgeous, luxuriously rich, vibrant, full-bodied California Cabernet that has thrown considerable sediment, but, wow, what flavors and richness it still packs. The color is a dark saturated plum/garnet. The wine reveals explosive black currant, cedar, Asian spice, and fruitcake-like aromas, long, viscous, thick, chewy flavors, and fabulous length. It remains in remarkable condition, with at least another decade of life ahead of it. (RP)

This was the only vintage of the Mondavi Cabernet Sauvignon where the regular bottling carried the designation of 'Unfiltered' (which had been used for the Reserve bottling in 1966), as the Reserve in this vintage was labeled as 'Unfined, Unfiltered'. This is a great, classic vintage for Napa Valley Cabernets, with the Mondavi 'Unfiltered' weighing in at a very classic 12.2 percent in alcohol (ah, those were indeed the days!) and having been raised in only a modicum of new oak. The wine continues to drink beautifully, offering up a deep and complex bouquet of black cherries, cigar wrapper, leather, a touch of chipotle pepper, lovely soil tones and a smoky topnote. On the palate the wine is deep, full-bodied, complex and still quite tangy, with a fine core of fruit, excellent focus and balance and still a bit of tannin remaining on the very long and classy finish. Fine, fine juice still with plenty of life in it!