2002 Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon Reserve
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Tasting notes
(14.7% alcohol; 100% Cabernet Sauvignon, "from a big yield and our ripest grapes," said Steve Pride): Healthy deep red-ruby. Extremely ripe nose shows strawberry liqueur, chocolate, game, toasted almond, amaretto and a note of hard candy. Plush, sweet and voluptuous; an utterly seamless wine with a distinctly exotic quality to its black cherry, chocolate and almond extract flavors. Nothing herbal here! This huge, mouthfilling wine finishes with substantial ripe tannins totally buffered by fruit. At its peak right now but in no danger of falling off a cliff anytime soon.
Critic scores
Average Score
Robert Parker
Stephen Tanzer, Vinous
More reviews and scores
More serious and foreboding as well as opulent and close to full maturity is the sexy, voluptuously textured, deep, concentrated, dense plum/purple-colored 2002 Cabernet Sauvignon Reserve. Fashioned from the estate’s finest Cabernet lots, it possesses terrific ripeness, a silky, plush texture, a big, full-bodied, broad, savory, deep, well-textured mouthfeel, and a 45-second finish. This gorgeous wine will offer both intellectual and hedonistic pleasure for another 12-15 years. This enviable and venerable winery high on top Spring Mountain straddles the Napa and Sonoma county lines. These three sensational 2002s are all capable of lasting another 10-15+ years. Tel. (707) 963-4949
(a selected vineyard block consisting mostly of 30-year-old vines) Good red-ruby. Roasted redcurrant, mocha, licorice, dark chocolate and menthol on the nose; clearly riper than the regular cabernet. Then big, chewy, broad and deep, with powerful flavors of currant, chocolate, mocha and tobacco, sweetened by oak. Finishes impressively long, with big, broad, horizontal tannins.
The 2002 Cabernet Sauvignon Reserve has aged well, although it is now fully mature. Dark fruit, worn-in leather, espresso, tobacco and incense are signs of a wine that has arrived at its peak. The style is classic Bob Foley, with plenty of ripe fruit and new oak inflections. Sweet floral and spice notes lift the finish nicely. Proprietor Steve Pride adds that these were the highest yields ever for the estate at the time. There is certainly plenty to admire here.