40th Birthday BBQ & 1970 Vintage Wine Tasting

A BBQ/Wine Tasting put together to celebrate my 40th Birthday. I started sourcing 1970 vintage wines about 2 years ago, buying them on WineBid, and other auction sites. Although several were over the hill, surprisingly, only 1 bottle was flawed out of an entire case of 1970's wines. Pretty damn good luck, if you ask me! Wines are listed in the order they were supposed to be tasted, not in the order they actually were tasted (although I noted it in the tasting notes for each). It was an epic event for me, as well as for many of my friends. Outstanding wines, and even better friends in attendance! Special thanks to Woody, Dave and Dietra, for going above and beyond helping me get everything set up. There are a number of photos on Flickr, as well as a video of the 1970's wines for download (requires QuickTime). Okay, on to the wines!

Pre-Tasting Bubbles, White and Rose
Some wines to whet everyone's palate, as well as go with the 93+ degree weather outside. There were others (a Lenne Estate "Le Nez" Rose of Pinot Noir, a Pinot Grigo, etc), but I didn't taste them.

• N.V. Gruet Brut Blanc de Noirs - USA, New Mexico
  Overly bubbly at first but settled down a bit. Perfect bubbles for a 93 degree day. Slightly sweet, and nice minerality too. Pear fruit, and very refreshing. (88 pts.)


• 2007 Matanzas Creek Winery Chardonnay Sonoma Valley - USA, California, Sonoma County, Sonoma Valley
  Light straw in color. Flavors of honeydew melon and pineapple, nice minerality too. (89 pts.)


• 2009 Patton Valley Vineyards Pinot Noir Rosé - USA, Oregon, Willamette Valley
  Very light, pale pink color, with vibrant acidity, and tasty strawberry fruit. (88 pts.)

1970 St. Émilion

• 1970 Château Bellevue Lussac-St. Émilion - France, Bordeaux, Libournais, Lussac-St. Émilion
  Bottle #1, and the first bottle of 1970 wine I bought for this tasting, over 2 years ago. Very thin looking, this looks, smells and tastes like a Pinot Noir. Fruit still apparent, with tons of barnyard. Absolutely no sediment (!) for a 40 year old Bordeaux. (84 pts.)



• 1970 Château Canon - France, Bordeaux, Libournais, St. Émilion Grand Cru
  Bottle #2. Cork came out in 2 pieces, with light effort. Some sediment, but not much. Dark maroon, with an amber tint to it at the edge. Soy sauce, very light fruit (cranberry or cherry?) hiding out. Very interesting to see people's reaction... (86 pts.)

1970 Margaux

• 1970 Château Lascombes - France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Margaux
  Bottle #3. Cork was wet on top with seeping wine, and sucked down into the neck slightly when I lightly tapped on the top. I had serious misgivings about this one, but they were unfounded. Cork came out in 2 large pieces. Wine is in excellent shape, with very dark maroon color, fruit living nicely. Cherries and blackberries, with nice earth and some asian spices. (86 pts.)



• 1970 Château Rausan-Ségla - France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Margaux
  Bottle #5. Cork saturated, but came out in a couple big pieces. Initially there was some VA in this one, but it blew off in about 10 min. Good color, dark garnet fading to bronze at the rim. Fruit is faded, but still there. Lots more secondary flavors though, with earth, tea, and leather. This gets the cool bottle trophy, with a funky triangular-looking bottle. (88 pts.)

1970 St. Julien

• 1970 Château Gloria - France, Bordeaux, Médoc, St. Julien
  Bottle #4. Cork came out in several pieces, all of them large enough to avoid straining. This was a pleasant surprise! Very much still alive, even though I had my doubts (top shoulder fill, obvious signs of seepage through the cork). Cassis, cherry and earth, with a hint of soy sauce. Some sediment in this one, but not what you'd expect for a 40 year old wine. (88 pts.)



• 1970 Château Léoville Las Cases - France, Bordeaux, Médoc, St. Julien
  Bottle #9. Cork looked perfect, but ended up crumbling with the introduction of a corkscrew, and came out in many small pieces, prompting us to strain the wine. In perfect condition otherwise. Solid tannins, big blackberry fruit, with secondary flavors of lead pencil and tobacco. Nice earthiness also. This was another wine that seemed only several years old, instead of 40. (90 pts.)

1970 Pauillac (and a 1976 First Growth)

• 1970 Château Pedesclaux - France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Pauillac
  Bottle #6. Cork looked solid, but refused to budge from the bottle, eventually coming out in pieces and requiring straining. A nice wine, but nothing spectacular. Still quite alive and vibrant. Dark burgundy in color, with raspberry and graphite flavors, along with forest floor and cedar components. Tannins slightly drying on the finish. (87 pts.)



• 1970 Château Pichon-Longueville Baron - France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Pauillac
  Bottle #7. Cork crumbled into several large chunks, but no straining needed. This one seemed a little over the hill. Black tea, soy sauce, with just a little bit of cherry fruit popping up, but quickly dying. Some pretty serious sediment in this one too. (85 pts.)



• 1970 Château Pichon Longueville Comtesse de Lalande - France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Pauillac
  Bottle #8. Perfect cork, but stuck in the bottle, requiring it's destruction to get at the good stuff inside. Remind me to buy an Ah-so opener next time. Once the wine was finally opened and strained into my glass, wow. Very dark garnet color, no cloudiness. Looks like it was bottled yesterday. Fresh cassis fruit, with gravel and tobacco showing. Some fairly hefty tannins still kicking also. This was a joy to drink! (92 pts.)



• 1976 Château Latour Grand Vin - France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Pauillac
  Bottle #12, and the only non-1970 in the lineup. Cork came out easily, in one LONG piece. This wine looks, smells and tastes like it is only a few years old. Dark maroon, with some lovely wood and earth aromas with gravel and blackberry fruit. Solid tannins, still holding strong. Nice acidity and fruit, making me think this one still has many years left to go. Just an outstanding wine. The secondary flavors are just starting to build up as the wine is getting more air. Particularly the gravel/pencil lead aspect. Very tasty tobacco and earth emerging too. Perfect wine to end the tasting. (95 pts.)

1970 Tuscany & 1970 Napa Valley

• 1970 Castello Banfi Brunello di Montalcino Riserva Poggio Alle Mura - Italy, Tuscany, Montalcino, Brunello di Montalcino
  Bottle #10, and the only one that was flawed, in this case heat damaged. Overly sweet and caramelized. Not pleasant to drink at all, although still interesting to taste 40-year old Sangiovese. NR (flawed)



• 1970 Robert Mondavi Winery Cabernet Sauvignon Napa Valley - USA, California, Napa Valley
  Bottle #11, but opened early due to guest requests. Cork came out in one piece, easily. Nice dark maroon color, going a little bronze at the edge, with not much sediment or cloudiness. Black cherry fruit, earth and mint flavors. Still some drying tannins on the finish, which shows a bit of mocha/coffee. Very nice, aged Oakville Cabernet. (89 pts.)

New World Wines (and an Amarone)
Catch-all for "the rest of the wines" brought by me and several friends, including a bottle of the unreleased 2003 Sharecropper's Cab (with hand-written lajavascript:void(0)bel) from Owen Roe (thanks Jesse!), a Penfolds Shiraz (thanks Dave!), and an Amarone that was a 38th birthday present (thanks Dietra!).

• 2008 Owen Roe Pinot Noir "Sharecropper's" - USA, Oregon
  Big, bold black cherry fruit and oak, with some nice barnyard kicking in. This is still a baby, and should be held for another year or 3. Very smooth, with nice acidity. (90 pts.)


• 2000 Beringer Vineyards Cabernet Sauvignon Private Reserve - USA, California, Napa Valley
  For an 'off vintage' in Napa, this was shining bright! Very earthy, with that lovely aged Cabernet flavor. Deep cherry fruit, with tons of earth. A joy to drink, and one of my favorite wines of the night. Very happy I have another bottle, even happier these only cost me $30 each. (93 pts.)


• 2003 Owen Roe Cabernet Sauvignon "Sharecropper's" - USA, Oregon, Columbia Valley
  Unreleased bottle with handwritten label, gift from Jesse. Very dark in color, with outstanding aromatics. Blackberry, earth, and a touch of pepper. Damn tasty stuff, that I hope to get more of soon! (91 pts.)


• 2004 Vaona Amarone della Valpolicella Classico Pegrandi - Italy, Veneto, Valpolicella, Amarone della Valpolicella Classico
  Birthday gift from Dietra 2 years ago, seemed proper to open it at my 40th birthday party! Dark purple/blue color, with big sweet blueberries and lots of earth. Tannins are kicking hard, but relaxed a lot with about 20 min of air. Very meaty, and a very enjoyable wine! (93 pts.)


• 2006 Owen Roe Cabernet Sauvignon DuBrul Vineyard - USA, Washington, Columbia Valley, Yakima Valley
  Huge wine, with big blackberry fruit and black pepper. Some leather/tobacco showing also, and the nose just screams "violets!". Still needs time, but very enjoyable now, with air. (95 pts.)


• 2006 Penfolds Shiraz Bin 28 Kalimna - Australia, South Australia
  BIG fruitbomb wine, with a ton of pepper. Typical Aussie Shiraz style, but very enjoyable to have a sip. More than 1 glass would be tiresome, until this calms down some. (90 pts.)


• 2005 Opus One - USA, California, Napa Valley
  Decanted 4 hours. When first opened this was a tannic beast, with huge cassis fruit. After 4 hours in the decanter, with several people stealing pours over that time, it had mellowed out into a beautiful, balanced wine. The nose is amazing...violets, and big berry fruit, with an underlying earthiness to it. Cassis, raspberry, tobacco and toasty oak flavors, with a chocolate-coffee finish that goes on for 30-40 seconds. In the company of 12 bottles of 1970 wines, this was still my wine of the night. (97 pts.)

Sweet Wine
The final wine, forgotten in the refrigerator until most everyone had departed.

• 2008 EOS Moscato Late Harvest Tears of Dew - USA, California, Central Coast, Paso Robles
  Final wine of the night, and my palate is shot. This is just over the top sweet though...way too much. Honeysuckle, orange and a heap-o-sugar. (83 pts.)

As always, tasting notes posted from CellarTracker.

An Essay By My Father

I wanted to share an essay written by my father, Ray Frost, for a contest in Highways magazine. Unfortunately, there was a 500-word limit, so it was never published. The story is a recap of our first RV trip as a family, my parents and sister, aunt, uncle, cousins, and grandparents on my Dad's side. It brought back some great memories for me, especially about my Grandpa, who passed away in 2001. So, for my own little tribute to Grandpa Frost, the "Wagon Master", and to my own Dad, please read on, and enjoy...

On the Road With the “Wagon Master”

By Raymond Frost

Our first RV trip was prompted by my mother’s small inheritance and two family reunions in June, 1984. Mom would foot the bill for gas, food, and camping if we all RV’ed back to southeast Idaho and Nebraska for reunions on both sides of the family. My folks were outfitted with a “snowbird-tested” motorhome and my brother Dan and family would travel in his trusty pickup camper. We had a Mazda sedan—so we started shopping for our first RV. Moving up from tent camping was a bit of a jump, so we hit on a middle-of-the-road deal that put us in a used Coleman tent trailer, supposedly easily towed by our Mazda. (First-timer tip: Check on tow ratings and hitches.) The tent trailer seemed in good shape and had plenty of room for our family of four. It even had a stove, sink, and ice box—quite luxurious compared to the tent.

The first day we traveled solo from southern Oregon to meet my folks and Dan and family in Boise, Idaho. They had traveled down from southeast Washington. After we got set up in the campground, I realized we had completed our first RV’ing day without mishap. The next morning after daybreak, we heard a soon to be familiar sound—RAP, RAP—on our trailer door. This was accompanied by “rise and shine, we’re burning daylight” or “head ‘em up, we’re moving out” or some such wake-up call. It was my dad with his cane. Mom might be paying the bills, but the “Wagon Master” was in charge of meeting his itinerary. No sleeping in on this vacation! We soon got used to the early routine, which gave us time in the afternoons for sightseeing.

Dan and I both bought Golden Eagle Passports which covered entry fees at all of the National Parks and other Federal sites we visited. Our first one was Craters of the Moon National Monument in Idaho. We all rode in the motorhome for a tour of the Monument. The Park Ranger at the entrance burst into laughter as Dan and I pressed our Passports against the window, as Dad used his Golden Age Passport (think Senior Pass) to cover the entry fees.

By that evening we were parked at Grandma’s farm in southeastern Idaho. This was the gathering place for the first reunion—Mom’s clan. As I cranked up the tent trailer our first mishap occurred—you knew it was coming—a cable jammed and an eyebolt spread open. My uncle grabbed his welder (every farm has one) and repaired the bolt, but the top needed lifting assistance—a cane or a stick worked fine. No dealer or repair shop in the area would touch it within the Wagon Master’s tight schedule, so we limped through the rest of the trip. Later I learned that a cable had jumped off a pulley and split. (First-timer tip: Know your crank system or buy a hard-side.) Oh yes, we saw lots of relatives, but my uncle’s rib barbecue on the River Ranch was the highlight.

RAP, RAP! Off to Yellowstone and two days camping and sightseeing in the Park. We discovered it gets real cold in mid-June there! We also learned that ice crystals forming on the canvas from your breath can “snow” on you when you roll over in bed. (First-timer tip: Consider adding a propane furnace.) After touring Yellowstone, we found ourselves in a calendar photo on Jenny Lake with the Grand Tetons looming over us. You felt you should speak in whispers to avoid disturbing the tranquility.

RAP, RAP! Our little convoy headed across Wyoming, watching for antelope. The four grandkids rode in the motorhome the whole way, keeping occupied with their Walkmans and various games. We pulled into our campground in Douglas in a thunderstorm, not ideal conditions for setting up a tent trailer. However, by this time we had a routine worked out and each of us had a job to do, so it went fairly quickly. Our wagon train lined up with our rig first, closest to the restrooms. Unfortunately, that was the direction of a major league straight-line wind out of the south, and I spent a good part of the night with my back against the door in hopes of keeping the Coleman from rolling over. It didn’t. (First-timer tip: In a lightweight trailer, hide behind the biggest motorhome you can find, when in windy country.)

The next day was an easy one. The itinerary included visiting a number historic sites and National Monuments: Fort Laramie, Scott’s Bluff, Chimney Rock, and a state park with swimming for the kids. We also encountered our first fireflies, to the delight of the youngsters. This was our first dry camp in our RV. We managed just fine, especially since Mom provided dinner for us all. Okay, I cheated a little and took a quick shower in the motorhome.

RAP, RAP! We made a quick run across Nebraska to the next reunion—Dad’s side. By late afternoon we were set up in a nice city campground, with scads more fireflies for the kids to chase. We had another first when we learned there was a tornado warning in effect, but a glance at the sky and my worries faded. The next day included a barbecue at my cousin’s (where I noted the location of the storm cellar, just in case) for nearby relatives, including my other grandma. The main event was a gigantic potluck the following day at the fairgrounds. Dad’s every living relative must have attended. We gave up keeping track of the various families and just enjoyed all the good food, visiting, and taking pictures of dozens of cousins.

RAP, RAP! Time to start our return trip. The Wagon Master informed us we had to be in the middle of South Dakota by that night. A pleasant drive north through the Nebraska sand hills put us on I-90 headed west. We pulled into our campground in Murdo with lightning again flashing around us and quickly set up camp. Then we heard: Tornado Watch! A look at the sky this time scared me. I had never seen such an angry rolling black cloud mass. The Wagon Master proceeded to scare the kids (and me) by pointing out the limited tornado shelter options we had. The boys thought diving into a nearby ditch was the answer. The girls opted for our car or the motorhome. Looking at my tent trailer flapping in the wind, I plotted the quickest way to the concrete block wash room—just in case. Despite our fears, nothing touched down in our area. (First-timer tip: Carry a NOAA weather radio in Tornado Alley.)

The next day we took in the Badlands National Park and stopped at Wall Drug, where I ran into a co-worker from Oregon. Small world! On to Rapid City and the Reptile Gardens and the Dinosaur Park. Then the Wagon Master led us on a three-day tour of the Black Hills. Mount Rushmore and Wind Caves were highlights and the kids enjoyed our night at the Flintstone Campground in Bedrock City—lots of cartoon-based play equipment.

RAP, RAP! On to Montana after spending a night in Sturgis at my uncle’s. Construction had limited access to the Little Big Horn National Monument, and with the temperature hovering around 103 in Hardin, the kids voted for a dip in the campground pool as an alternative. Our last night in Montana was spent at Lewis and Clark Caverns, where we took the interesting cave tour.

The following day we were atop Lolo Pass looking into Idaho. We were just two or three days from completing the loop on our three week odyssey. After we arrived home, I had to marvel at our first time with our mighty Mazda-Coleman combo. Despite our one mishap and several weather challenges, we still had the trip of our lives. (First-timer tip: Keep a journal—so you have memory joggers twenty-five years later. Also helps in labeling photos.)

The Wagon Master passed on in 2001, leaving behind two avid RV’ing sons. My brother upgraded to a motorhome and we to a fifth-wheel trailer. Even though my wife and I now live in Arizona, we still RV together whenever possible. And yes, I still have the Wagon Master’s rapping cane.

RAP, RAP! Yes, I hear you, Dad. But we’re retired now and RV at a slower pace. I think we’ll “burn a little daylight” today.

Thanks for the memories, Dad. --Robert