Winemaker Notes
Professional Ratings
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Wine Spectator
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.
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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.
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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.
One of the most prestigious wines of the world capable of great power and grace, Napa Valley Cabernet is a leading force in the world of fine, famous, collectible red wine. Today the Napa Valley and Cabernet Sauvignon are so intrinsically linked that it is difficult to discuss one without the other. But it wasn’t until the 1970s that this marriage came to light; sudden international recognition rained upon Napa with the victory of the Stag’s Leap Wine Cellars 1973 Cabernet Sauvignon in the 1976 Judgement of Paris.
Cabernet Sauvignon undoubtedly dominates Napa Valley today, covering half of the land under vine, commanding the highest prices per ton and earning the most critical acclaim. Cabernet Sauvignon’s structure, acidity, capacity to thrive in multiple environs and ability to express nuances of vintage make it perfect for Napa Valley where incredible soil and geographical diversity are found and the climate is perfect for grape growing. Within the Napa Valley lie many smaller sub-AVAs that express specific characteristics based on situation, slope and soil—as a perfect example, Rutherford’s famous dust or Stags Leap District's tart cherry flavors.