2007 Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon Reserve
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Tasting notes
(15% alcohol): Deep ruby. Liqueur-like aromas of black cherry, cassis, blackberry, bitter chocolate and slightly tarry oak are accented by a minty nuance. Wonderfully broad, fine-grained wine with shocking inner-mouth lift thanks to its balance of sweetness and urgent acidity. Still amazingly primary in a classic mountain style--in fact, almost simple today. Penetrating black fruit, violet and licorice flavors carry impressively on the firmly tannic, chocolatey finish, which shows no dryness. This infant is evolving at a snail's pace.
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Average Score
Robert Parker
Stephen Tanzer, Vinous
More reviews and scores
Deep ruby. Liqueur-like aromas of black cherry, cassis, blackberry, bitter chocolate and slightly tarry oak are accented by a minty nuance. Wonderfully broad, fine-grained wine with shocking inner-mouth lift thanks to its balance of sweetness and urgent acidity. Still amazingly primary in a classic mountain style--in fact, almost simple today. Penetrating black fruit, violet and licorice flavors carry impressively on the firmly tannic, chocolatey finish, which shows no dryness. This infant is evolving at a snail's pace. (ST) 93+
(15% alcohol; blended with 1% Petit Verdot; this was current winemaker Sally Johnson's first vintage at the helm here, and she described 2007 as "a bruiser of a vintage"): Full ruby. Somewhat stunted nose hints at blueberry, tar, licorice and a balsamic quality. Very rich but also firmly structured, showing a sweet/savory quality to the flavors of exotic black fruits, tar, mint, underbrush and sweet oak. This rather massive wine is still carrying substantial baby fat, making it a bit inscrutable today, but I suspect it will show more nuance with a few more years of bottle aging. Finishes with big tannins and excellent length. This wine began "really soft but then got very tannic," noted winemaker Johnson.