2012 CADE Cabernet Sauvignon Reserve
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Tasting notes
Moving to the reserve releases, the 2012 Cabernet Sauvignon Reserve offers more black fruits as well as powerful notes of iron, sagebrush, and flowers. It’s not massive but has full-bodied richness, an elegant, seamless mouthfeel, and a good sense of freshness. It’s still a substantially bigger, richer wine than the classic cuvée and has the textbook 2012 sexiness that makes the vintage so compelling. It needs air if drinking any time soon and easily has another 15 years of prime drinking.
Critic scores
Average Score
Robert Parker
Stephen Tanzer, Vinous
More reviews and scores
The 2012 Cabernet Sauvignon Reserve is bigger and richer than the Estate, but it is not meaningfully better. If anything, the high levels of extraction and new oak mask much of the Howell Mountain character. Heavy aromas of torrefaction, mocha, espresso and new French oak are lathered over a core of racy dark fruit. This is a good example of too much of a good thing. Even so, the 2012 Reserve is actually a terrific wine, but it clearly could have been so much more.
The 2012 Cabernet Sauvignon Reserve comes in a unique bottle that is similar to the special bottle used by Joseph Phelps for their Insignia (which reminds me of a grenade). A blockbuster superstar, this inky/purple-hued 2012 is filled with crème de cassis, blueberry and mulberry fruit that hides any notion of its oak aging. Opulent, voluptuously textured, multilayered and stunningly rich with a finish that lasts 45+ seconds, this magnificent Cabernet should age effortlessly for two decades or more. But who can wait that long? Not me.
(15.5% alcohol; aged entirely in new French oak): Primary aromas of cassis, black cherry, violet and mint are lifted by a sexy floral scent. Blackberry and violet flavors are sweetened by new oak and dark chocolate notes. Strong tannins cut off the wine's fruit today and give the back end a toughness.