Is a 1999 bottle of Cabernet Sauvignon, no longer in its prime to drink?

Question

I'm still not a wink connosieur.

By the way the "Cab" is a Robert Mondavi wine. Is that a decent Calif. Cab?

Answer 1

If it's a good quality and stored properly, it may be in it's "stupid", or closed phase, that generally occurs between 5 and 10 years after vintage. 1999 in California was a year that produced wines worthy of bottle aging. The tannins were generally high. I recommend waiting about three years.

A bit more info would help to be specific:
Appellation and vintner.

More: Thanks for the additional info. I would guess that the Mondavi needs a few more years. According to the members that have recently tasted the wine on www.cellartracker.com, the wine is showing strong tannins now. The recommended drinking window is after 2008, which makes sense.

If I owned the bottle, I would hang on to it and drink it in two or three years.

Answer 2

That depends on a lot of things.

Was the bottle stored on its side (this keeps the cork moist and prevents oxygen from getting into the bottle)?

Was the bottle kept a pretty much the same temperature the whole time it was in storage (not changing by more than a degree or two over a months time)?

Was the humidity relatively constant where the bottle was stored?

Was it a good bottle of wine to begin with?

In general red wines (such as your cab) age well and develop great flavor and mouth feel with time... whites on the other hand do not store well for long periods of time.

If all the answers to the questions above were yes, you should have a nice palatable bottle of wine. The best way to know is pull the cork and try it.

Answer 3

The vintage is the year the wine was harvested, and some years are better for wine than others. Most wine is better after a period of time in the bottle, not less good. And the quality of the wine depends on where it was grown and how it was made and how it was treated after it was bottled. 1999 therefore has little relevance, except to indicate that the wine has had a nice period of aging in the bottle, so it should be perfectly fine.

I mean, a 1999 bottle of Cabernet made by a vintner on an estate in France is going to be better than a 1999 bottle of Cab I made in my bathtub, no?

Answer 4

1999 would typically be young for a good quality Cab. Even an inexpensive or lower quality Cab would still be drinkable at that age if stored properly. Even the best wine, if it kept at room temperature all this time, would probably be garbage (wine needs to be kept cool, ideally between 50 and 60 degrees). A wine's ability to get better or at least stay okay with age depends alot on the weather of that year where it was made. Tell us the name of the wine and we can tell you how well it would taste today.

Answer 5

Enigma's answer is fine as far as it goes (of the 4 answerers before me) but he/she neglects to tell you that everything also depends - perhaps most of all - on the wine's brand and/or appellation. Some Bordeaux from one year may last many times longer than some from northern California; the next year it will be the reverse for example.

(Oops - while I was writing this "sonyacks" answer - reiterating some of my points - came through for you)

Answer 6

this bottle depending on the vintage and if stored properly should be ready to drink in 2009. Age reduces the tannins in the wine making it smoother

Answer 7

I agree with Wolfy - his answer is short and sweet. The other longer answers are also informative.

Answer 8

no it just gets better with age!! drink it, yo! or send it to me! I lova da cab!

Answer 9

Take it to someone who is an expert. I doubt it is good.

Answer 10

no it fine chill and injoy