Pride Mountain Vineyards Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon 2003

In contrast, the 2003 Cabernet Sauvignon Reserve (14.7% natural alcohol) is an equal part blend of Napa and Sonoma fruit. There is no doubting the Cabernet Sauvignon in this wine! Classic notes of cedarwood, underbrush, licorice, black currants and tobacco leaf are textbook definitions of this varietal. The color is even denser than the Reserve Claret's, and the bouquet offers additional notes of Chinese black tea. Elegant with great acid as well as stunning concentration, richness and a full-bodied mouthfeel, this is another world-class effort that pushes the envelope toward perfection. It is a remarkable success for the vintage, partly due to the fact that the extremes of weather experienced on the valley floor were less problematic for these high altitude sites. It should keep for another 6-10 years.

What a wine. Take one of those hugely gooey, famous winemaker Napa Cabs, the kind that melt on your palate like butter on toast or chocolate in a microwave, and add fierce mountain tannins, and this is what you get. A humungous, dry, important Cab, one that desperately needs cellaring. Ten years should do it; 20 might be better. The spicy blackberry and cherry fruit isn't going anywhere.

Spice, red currant and blackberry aromas, turning taut and firm on the palate with with mouthcoating tannins. Hints of mocha and vanilla bean add a nice flavor dimemsion and on the finish the fruit and tannins shine through. Best from 2009 through 2014.

Loaded with crème brulee and caramel notes right off the bat, the nose of this compelling effort keeps sweet black cherry fruit in clear focus, and that combination of elements is both outgoing in volume and precociously inviting. Full in feel without the least resort towards heaviness, the wine tastes of mouthfilling, lengthy richness layered over intense yet youthful fruit. Time is clearly on its side, and while the wine has plenty of well-muscled fruit today, it is a lead-pipe cinch to age gracefully with cellaring.