2001 Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon Reserve

The 2005 Cabernet Sauvignon Reserve is in an ideal spot for drinking now. The aromatics are just beginning to show the first signs of development, yet the wine retains striking fruit presence and freshness throughout. Scents of sweet tobacco, menthol, savory herbs, licorice and dried herbs give the wine its sense of completeness. (AG)

(14.6% alcohol; 50% To Kalon): Bright, dark red. Lively aromas of cassis, violet and graphite suggest a juicy wine. Boasts terrific claret-like intensity and cut to its flavors of currant, tobacco, minerals, spices and leather; there's a noble rusticity to this wine, which is distinctly Old World in style. Not especially fleshy--especially following the 2002--but finishes with superb cut, soil-driven salinity and length. The serious tannins are still tight. Interestingly, winemaker Janssens views 2001 as a powerful vintage for the Mondavi Reserve. This wine has good acidity but was also the highest vintage in pH (3.76) at the time.

This is a beautiful 2005 Cabernet Sauvignon Reserve from Mondavi. The wine, a blend of 94% Cabernet Sauvignon and 6% Cabernet Franc, has a youthful, opaque bluish/purple color and a classic nose of lead pencil shavings, crème de cassis, licorice, and subtle, toasty French oak. Some chocolate also makes an appearance. Approachable, this full-bodied, beautifully concentrated and handsome Cabernet Sauvignon strikes me as one of the superb efforts the Mondavi Winery has produced, and should age effortlessly for another 20+ years. Once again, the vintage’s incredible freshness, vibrancy and precision are well displayed in this wine and, as I have indicated so many times in this horizontal, this is a striking characteristic in the manner the 2005s have evolved. (RP)