Another Superannuated Wine

Freemark Abbey
1988 Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon
Sycamore Vineyards
$20
Shane's Notes

I finished cleaning my prior apartment the other night and headed home. Jen, thinking I would not be back until she was in bed, had broken into her private wine stash and was finishing off the last of a bottle of Red Bicyclette Syrah. I really wanted some wine, so I asked Jen if I could open our 1988 Freemark.

This wine had been given to us as a gift about 5 months ago, and we had been reluctant to open it. We usually enjoy Freemark Abbey’s wines but the Sycamore Vineyard Cabs just aren’t built to age for 17 years. We both suspected that the wine in this bottle had been transmogrified into vinegar.

I corked it and let it sit for a few minutes before taking the first sip. It was flavorless and set my throat on fire. Undaunted, I let it sit for another five minutes and took another sip. It now tasted like vinegar, so I performed last rites and poured the rest of the wine down the sink.

We want to emphasize that this is not a knock against Freemark. I absolutely loved their 1995 Sycamore Vineyards Cabernet and drank a bottle each year until around 2005. It had definitely peaked in around 2002 and was fading rapidly by 2005. Their Sycamore Vineyard Cabs are not built for long term aging but this is not a flaw: drink them young and enjoy them.