2000 Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon Reserve
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Tasting notes
(14.4% alcohol; includes 2% Petit Verdot): Slightly raw aromas of blackberry, cassis leaf, graphite, licorice, wild herbs and green pepper, lifted by spicy high notes. Supple but a bit simple on entry, with the dark berry flavors showing a repeating green quality. Finishes with granular, dry-edged tannins and a late hint of leather. Bright acidity keeps this midweight Cabernet Sauvignon alive but I wanted a bit more complexity. I recall this wine seeming considerably riper and richer on release, but this bottle conveys an impression of modest flavor development.
Critic scores
Average Score
Stephen Tanzer, Vinous
Stephen Tanzer, Vinous
More reviews and scores
Good medium ruby. Rather reticent, brooding nose hints at black cherry, blackberry, violet, bitter chocolate and new oak; suggestions of almost port-like superripeness. Lush, sweet and fat, with intriguing mineral and tar notes; showing more mid-palate density than the reserve claret but this is also less open and juicy today. Finishes with substantial, broad, oak-driven tannins that slightly shorten the wine's fruit today, but this has very good thrust and length. This actually got more than 100% new oak, according to Foley: the wine began with a sojourn in new barrels, then after the various components were allowed to marry in neutral barrels the wine was returned to another set of new barrels.