2003 Cabernet Sauvignon Napa Valley

Bright ruby-red. Aromas of currant, blackberry, tobacco and mocha turned spicier with aeration. Sweet and sappy on the palate, with noteworthy energy to its flavors of red berries, spices, minerals, tobacco and earth. Serious, ripe wine, finishing with firm tannic spine and very good aromatic persistence. This has turned out well.

(tasted from tank) Good ruby-red. Coolish, clean aromas of blackberry, black cherry, graphite, minerals and menthol. A juicy, firm midweight, with very good texture but acids currently in the foreground. Tricky to taste in its current form. Finishes with dusty, building tannins. (The 2002 Cabernet Sauvignon St. Helena, rated 91(+?) a year ago, showed wonderfully in March and merited a 92 rating, while the 2002 Cabernet Sauvignon Rutherford, a bit less sappy but lush and broad, rated 91 points. The 2002 Napa Valley flagship wine was wonderfully dense, suave and flamboyant, with an almost liqueur-like sappiness, and rated 93. In sum, all of these very rich 2002s showed at least as well as they did a year ago.)

Good medium ruby. High-pitched aromas of cassis, bitter chocolate, violet and mint. Juicy and tightly wound, with fresh acidity giving life to the flavors. But less thick than usual for this wine, with the result that the tannins come across as a tad dry.