2002 Pahlmeyer Proprietary Red
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Tasting notes
The nearly perfect 2002 Proprietary Red Wine is a blend of 75% Cabernet Sauvignon, 22% Merlot and the rest dollops of Cabernet Franc, Petit Verdot and Malbec. This exotic, full-throttle, nearly over-the-top red wine’s intensity, richness and smoky coffee notes intermixed with notions of chocolate, graphite, and jammy blackberry and black currant fruit ooze from the glass. This rich, concentrated beauty tastes more like a top-notch, young Right Bank Bordeaux from a vintage such as 2009 than a wine dominated by Cabernet Sauvignon. With stunning purity and awesome potential, it can be drunk now or cellared for another two decades. Pahlmeyer has long been one of my favorite wineries for both their red wines and Chardonnays. Both the 2002 red cuvees, made by Erin Green for proprietor Jayson Pahlmeyer, are performing fabulously. These wines typically have tremendously long lives, as evidenced by some older vintages in my cellar that are continuing to age beautifully. One can make a strong argument that Pahlmeyer produces the finest Merlot in California. Tel. (707) 255-2321; Fax (707) 255-6786
Critic scores
Average Score
Robert Parker
Stephen Tanzer, Vinous
More reviews and scores
(75% cabernet sauvignon, 22% merlot and 1% each cabernet franc, petit verdot and malbec) Full medium ruby. Brooding, medicinal aromas of black fruits. Sweet, chewy and deep, with flavors of dark berries, violet, minerals and game freshened by harmonious acidity. Finishes long and ripe, with fine, sweet, building tannins. Green notes that the merlot in this blend is actually tighter and less fleshy than the cabernet.
(75% cabernet sauvignon, 22% merlot, and 1% each cabernet franc, petit verdot and malbec) Saturated ruby. Liqueur-like aromas of cassis, blackberry, violet, bitter chocolate and licorice; verging on exotic. Then hugely sweet, lush and dense but solidly structured; this, too, shows more vim and structure than the merlot from the same vintage despite having a higher pH (3.96, vs. 3.85). Finishes with solid tannins and excellent length.