Robert Mondavi Cabernet Sauvignon Reserve

Wonderful intensity, beautifully crafted, with richness, focus and purity of flavor, offering layers of rich, smoky, mint- and spice-laced currant and blackberry fruit. Persistent, potent aftertaste.

The best Reserve offering since 1994 is the 2001 Cabernet Sauvignon Reserve, a 13,000-case blend of 88% Cabernet Sauvignon, 10% Cabernet Franc, and 2% Malbec and Petit Verdot. Half of the fruit emerges from the To-Kalon Vineyard. It possesses a pH of 3.7, and the alcohol is over 14%. Reminiscent of such vintages as 1990, 1991, and 1994, it boasts a saturated purple color as well as a sumptuous perfume of white chocolate, flowers, black currants, blackberries, and cigar smoke. Powerful, rich, and concentrated with admirable purity, a layered texture, and a 45+ second finish, this is a superb effort. Anticipated maturity: 2007–2020+.

A brilliant effort from Mondavi, the 2001 Cabernet Sauvignon Reserve (a blend of 88% Cabernet Sauvignon, 10% Cabernet Franc and the rest Malbec and Petit Verdot) exhibits complex aromatics of forest floor, sweet black cherry and black currant fruit, vanillin and lead pencil shavings. Dense and powerful as well as elegant and concentrated, the finish reveals moderate tannins, and the wine needs another 4–5 years of cellaring, but it has at least 25 years of upside left.

Contains 67% To-Kalon Vineyard fruit. Still a baby. Closed, brooding, very deep, very dry. Fabulous cassis fruit, a huge wine. Lots of delicious, sweet new oak. Superbly balanced, impressive. Drinkable now, but best 2010–2020.

The finest Private Reserve since the 1991, 1990, and 1987, the 2001 Cabernet Sauvignon Private Reserve is extraordinary. There are 8,000 cases of the blend of 88% Cabernet Sauvignon, 10% Cabernet Franc, and small dollops of Merlot as well as Petit Verdot. A perfume of smoke, camphor, creme de cassis, cedar, and fruitcake is accompanied by a gentle giant of a wine. Powerful and impeccably balanced, with outstanding concentration, well-integrated wood, acidity, and tannin, and a long, nearly 60-second finish, this saturated ruby-purple-hued effort is a prodigious example of Cabernet Sauvignon. Anticipated maturity: now–2020+.

A superrich, polished, multifaceted wine, with layers of ripe currant, blackberry, herb, cedar and sage and a touch of pencil lead. Deep and concentrated, the flavors pour through on the finish, and while the tannins are chewy, the texture is supple. Best from 2005 through 2012.

The best Cabernet I’ve tasted in 35 years!