Robert Mondavi Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon (scuffed label) 2004

Professional Ratings

• 95 Wine Spectator
  Number 9 on Wine Spectator's Top 100 of 2007!

  Weaves together a complex array of ripe, rich currant, anise, smoky oak and black cherry. Dense, concentrated and persistent, with great depth and focus, ending with an amazingly long, richly flavored finish. Best from 2008 through 2018.

• 93 Connoisseurs' Guide
  Rich, well-ripened and in all ways keenly keyed on classic Napa Valley Cabernet fruit, Mondavi's latest reserve bottling shows exceptional depth and fruity stuffing with subtle accents of briar and loam scattered throughout. While its oak is plentiful, it never stands out more than it should, and the wine shows real crafting in its balance of tannins and acid. It may check in at 15.0% alcohol, but it shows little evidence of the fact, and its combination of richness and careful winemaking makes a convincing argument against the all too fashionable whine that high ripeness necessarily begets soulless, second-class wines.
• 92 Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
  A blend of 86% Cabernet Sauvignon, 12% Cabernet Franc, and the rest Petit Verdot, the 2004 Cabernet Sauvignon Reserve, which mostly comes from To-Kalon, has a relatively small production in this vintage (7,500 cases). The wine has a dense purple color and a wonderful, sweet, almost St.-Julien like nose of licorice, red and black currants, cedar, and spice. Medium to full-bodied, elegant, but authoritatively flavored, this wine is still young, rich, and very fine.
• 92 Wine Enthusiast
  One of the ripest, highest alcohol Mondavi Reserve Cabs in memory, this wine is forward in cassis and cherry flavors, and while the tannins are pretty sturdy, it’s sweet and soft enough to drink now. It definitely has the rich mouthfeel you want in a pricey Napa Cab. But it’s young; cellar this one until at least 2010.