1995 Cabernet Sauvignon Napa Valley
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Tasting notes
Good healthy dark red, with little amber at the rim. Cool, medicinal black cherry, licorice and mint on the nose. Plush, spicy and sweet, with the slightly medicinal quality countered by good mid-palate texture and mouth coverage. The combination of vinosity and salinity along with a light herbal quality gives the wine noteworthy lift and a light touch. This distinctly dark-fruit style is not particularly complex but is full of life and still unfolding.
Critic scores
Average Score
Robert Parker
Stephen Tanzer, Vinous
More reviews and scores
The current Cabernet Sauvignon release is the 1995, a wine which has performed consistently well since I first tasted it. It is one of those 1995s that easily rivals the 1994, adding evidence to my belief that these two years in Napa and Sonoma might turn out to be the finest back-to-back vintages California has ever enjoyed. This wine boasts a saturated black/purple color, as well as a terrific nose of licorice, cassis, and subtle toasty oak. Full-bodied, and crammed with extract, and rich, ripe black fruits, this dense, symmetrical Cabernet will require several years of cellaring when released, but it should age effortlessly for 15-20 years. It is every bit as good as the terrific 1994, and may ultimately prove to be better, as well as longer-lived. Tony Soter, one of California's finest and most influential wine consultants, has an impressive portfolio of new offerings. Tel. (707) 257-5300; Fax (707) 257-6022
Bright ruby-red. Inexpressive nose hints at cinnamon. Sweet, thick and youthfully clenched; ripe hint of chocolate. A seriously structured, adult style of cabernet, most impressive today on the peacock tail of a finish. Perhaps not as solidly built as the '96 but this should age extremely well.