1997 Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon Reserve
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Tasting notes
(14.1%): Full bright ruby to the rim; looks like a new vintage. Aromas of black raspberry, blackberry, licorice and sexy oak. Very concentrated but a bit stunted on the palate, delivering impressive dark fruit intensity and a strong licorice quality framed by vibrant but harmonious acidity. Finishes very long, with powerful, slightly gritty mountain tannins and serious medicinal reserve. This tastes like a much younger wine. Still, the aftertaste is a bit warm and aggressive, suggesting the wine may yet benefit from more time in bottle. This bottle avoided the slightly pruney quality of a very good (92 points) sample I tasted as part of an extensive vertical tasting at the winery in 2015.
Critic scores
Average Score
Robert Parker
Stephen Tanzer, Vinous
More reviews and scores
(14.1% alcohol; includes 4% Petit Verdot): Bright ruby-red. Highly aromatic nose combines briary blueberry and cassis, leather, tar, coffee and resiny oak, along with a faint pruney quality. Then high-pitched and sappy in the mouth, showing a powerful spine to its superconcentrated flavors of black cherry, cassis, game and flowers. The serious, firm tannins arrive late, allowing the wine's finishing perfume to build in the mouth. Steve Pride noted that this hot-year wine "was definitely pruney and stewy at the beginning," but this bottle was still full of life. Incidentally, most of the inventory of the '97 was lost in a fire in June of 2000 at the Frank-Rombauer facility (formerly Kornell Cellars) in Calistoga.
While only microscopic quantities were produced of this wine, It is an immense wine of extraordinary concentration and depth. Amazing, the 1997 Cabernet Sauvignon Reserve pushes richness to unreal levels. Despite its intense, full-bodied, ultra-concentrated style, it possesses a sense of balance and definition. The color is a saturated inky purple. The aromatics consist of lead pencil shavings, minerals, blackberries, cassis, and flowers. Extremely full-bodied, with amazing purity, mouth-coating richness, sweet tannin, and low acidity, it offers profound drinking even though it has not yet begun to develop secondary nuances. Anticipated maturity: 2003-2025. Tel. (707) 963-4949; Fax (707) 963-6039