Robert Mondavi Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon 2002

"The stylish, elegant 2002 Cabernet Sauvignon Private Reserve (8,300 cases of 83% Cabernet Sauvignon, 7% Merlot, and the balance Cabernet Franc, Petit Verdot, and Malbec) is not as dense as either the M-Bar or Vine Hill Ranch cuvee, but it offers a beautiful marriage of power and elegance. Cedar wood, creme de cassis, spice box, and dried herb aromas soar from the glass of this medium-bodied, beautifully balanced, elegant Private Reserve, which is somewhat reminiscent of Mondavi’s 1978. It’s all about harmony, balance, and finesse in 2002. Drink it over the next 15+ years. "

92 Points

The Wine Advocate

"Mainly from To Kalon grapes, this dark, young wine is not showing its best now. It hasn’t pulled the oak, alcohol, acids, tannins and fruit together into a seamless package. The individual parts stick out, nakedly, yet possess an innate balance. Mondavi Reserves age well; this one should start to open by 2010 and hold for years after. "

92 Points

Wine Enthusiast

"Full medium ruby. Vibrant, highly aromatic nose combines blackberry, violet and licorice. Juicy, lively and light on its feet, with cool, lifted flavors of blackberry, violet, mint and exotic spices. Today, this gives virtually no hint of dehydrated fruit. Offers terrific verve for the vintage, but the substantial ripe tannins call for at least five or six years of additional cellaring."

92 Points

International Wine Cellar

"7% Merlot; 6%Cabernet Franc; 2% Petit Verdot; 2% Malbec. Here is a beautifully made wine that reminds that Cabernet is and should not be defined solely by ripeness and hard-charging oak, for, while it may have plenty of each, it shows exceptional balance and genuine finesse, and it is defined first and last by its precise and unwavering curranty fruit. It is wine with plenty of potential, its polish and poise notwithstanding, and it deserves at least a four or five years in the cellar in which to deepen and more fully unfold."

91 Points

Connoisseurs' Guide