The Napa Valley Reserve, Reserve, Napa Valley

Drank for my birthday with herb roasted rack of lamp. At first sip this wine had a touch of funk and tasted almost old world. However, with a little time in the decanter it started to evolve beautifully and became incredibly complex and elegant. Over time a beautiful herbal savory taste developed, that then revealed lots of black olive, and eventually led to rich dark fruits. It was more savory than fruity and was a perfect pairing with the lamb. …

2010 vintage

Luxurious oak is the first impression. Concentrated ripe and sweet black fruit, blackberry liqueur, crème de cassis, licorice, ink, espresso, lead pencil, cedar, spice spices and crushed rocks. Excellent concentration, layers upon layers of intense black fruit, unctuous and rich, bright acidity, strong rocky mineral, still showing strong tannins and a long intense black fruit driven finish with liquid smoke and oak at the end. I am not sure whether the tannins will eventually resolve. It certainly taste very cultish.

2013 vintage

Drank next to various other Napa Valley 2007s. Pride and Heitz. This was a clear winner. Hard to put down the glass to taste the other wines. Delicious and still aging great imo. Still big and the meniscus was showing less signs of its age than its fellow 07s.

2007 vintage

Not sure if it’s corked, or just in bad shape, the wine is very disjointed, pepper with card board (not wet), not the palette very bitter, toasted coffee, austere and not much fruit.

2013 vintage

Smooth, full palate and taste, takes over your mouth. Creamy and fluffy. Requires decanting. Zero acidity. One of the best wines so far, second to none.

2013 vintage

Decanted for 1 hour. Gorgeous nose of blackberry, cedar, vanilla and a dash of anise. Lively palate, silky texture delivers intense black fruit and red currant flavors. Nice tight finish, this wine is very polished without being over the top. Love it.

2010 vintage

Black pepper, tobacco, coffee grounds, cedar wood, over ripe red cherries, over ripe raspberries, and over ripe red plums on the nose. Maybe a little raw green poblano pepper if you dig for it. Medium + intensity of aromas. Secondary flavors drive the palate - especially coffee and tobacco. Mushroom is added, but the fruit stays strong enough for everything to be balanced. I would say it's about 50/50 between fruit and spice. As the other reviewer says, this is …

1997 vintage

The other Napa Valley Reserve my friend brought to his dinner. The sommelier decanted it for about 1.5 hours beforehand. Smelled black currant and chocolate. I tasted blackberry, vanilla, and some oak. Overall, I think this wine was much superior than the '08 and still has a decent life in it (the 2013 vintage again shines through). It was quite powerful and the tannins were certainly present. I would drink now but there isn't a rush.

2013 vintage

In a good place right now, still some fruit left, nice density and structure. A delicious wine but somehow it lacks complexity and also some intensity to truly pull me in.

2002 vintage

Opened and tasted over about 5 hours. Not decanted. This is unabashedly California. The remnants of a ripe, rich fruit profile of cassis, blackberry, and a touch of anise remains, but limited secondary characteristic development, perhaps a touch of tobacco and leather, but you really have to search for it. The alcohol and acid are poking through the fruit a bit and giving it the feel of a punk rocker in their 50s and past their prime. The signs are …

1997 vintage

PNP. Very deep nose of blackberry, currant and anise. Ripe palate, full and viscous with very refined tannins and mild acidity. Still quite young with lots of upside.

2010 vintage

Feder

1997 vintage

Lovely full bodied wine. 2 hour slo-ox and tasted over 2 days. Black cherry, blackberry, round fine grain tannins. Based on previous recollections of this vintage and the 01 tastings about 5 years ago, I was looking for some tertiary and spice, and the light and silky mid palate than this bottle provided. Nonetheless, a very enjoyable excellent bottle. Prob best to drink up if you have any left.

2002 vintage

Great Napa Cab. Fully mature and balanced. Nose and palate of blue and black fruit, especially blueberries. Good mid-palate depth. Most surprising in a good way was the finish, which was long and featured a subtle acidic “zing” that I normally associate with Sangiovese not with Napa Cab. The finish enhanced the food pairing, in our case with grilled pork tenderloin. Overall excellent! Enjoy!

2005 vintage

Drank a 2001 in May 2024. Wine was Perfectly balanced drinking well and can hold for at least 5 years maybe more. It was the wine of the night out of 41 great wines.

2001 vintage

Past peak. Alcohol hot and not well integrated. Forest floor, soy sauce. Not much fruit

2007 vintage

More french L bank in style vs many CA cabs. Black and some red fruit-current & plum predominant. Has some green & earth elements-bell pepper, leather, charcoal, graphite. Better w/food.

2010 vintage

Had it all. Lovely with beef.

2005 vintage

Drank well, and liked by the group.

1997 vintage

Pausing for the Cause Fundraiser and Dinner (Obelix - Chicago IL) : Alongside the Harlan 1997. Also tasty, but ripe and fleshy fruit is maturing and losing its edge. Good, but little that I could still find exciting.

1997 vintage

Great nose unctuous rich, tannis just right. About as good cab as-you can find. Compares With other Harlan Estate wines. Great with beef wellington

2005 vintage

Excellent mature napa cab. Full but fresh and pretty light on its feet. Fine balance - staying true to the cali style but without too much vanilla.

2007 vintage

inky deep red color, dark rich plums on the nose, oak a bit raw, showing a little heat, on the palate a grand and sexy cherry and plum fruit, supple tannins, deep and broad palate, exellent length, a touch warm on the tail end but not to the extent suggested by the nose, oak better absorbed on the palate than I often find at this address, viscous and thick, raspberry cream note with time, as modern as it gets but …

2010 vintage

Very smooth and soft tannins after dectanting for about an hour. I love this wine.

2010 vintage

This '07 Napa Valley Reserve was kindly brought by Adam to celebrate Henry's bachelor party in Tahoe. No official TNs as this is part of my review transferring from Vivino to CT. Notes from Vivino include, "roasted capsicum, smoked pipe tobacco, pure black fruit characterstics, cassis. Structurally, showing medium plus tannins" I scored this wine 95 points.

2007 vintage

This was pretty stunning and drank well even 3 day later. Super dark musty, glycerin, big tannins, licorice, bitter choc., cassis, awesome richness, big mouthfeel, but complex, grippy. Very nice. Another '05 like the Kongsgaard. DD Napa Cabs blind at Michaels. My 2nd place of the night. 93-94, in there with the Kongsgaard, but totally different wines.

2005 vintage

Plenty of structure (and life) remains.

2005 vintage

Popped and poured. Drank well, and liked by all.

1997 vintage

Rich, big but overly alcoholic. Disjointed.

2010 vintage

From 1.5L bottle. It will soon reach its peak time. of course very enjoyable now. I drank this wine with 2001 harlan. on nose, I'm sure it comparable to harlan. but Intensity in the mouth is the biggest difference between these two wines. But there is no dispute that it is a very good wine. 95

2002 vintage

The 2013 vintage in Napa sometimes reminds me of that old folk song, “She’ll be coming around the mountain when she comes.” Despite its many verses, the song never describes the moment when she actually, you know, comes around the mountain, a circular futility that honors the song’s origins (originally describing the second coming, which - whatever your belief system - is still TBD). In vinous terms, the critics rain acclaim on the 2013 vintage, and some wines were open …

2013 vintage

Napa and Bordeaux gathering (Clarity - Vienna, Virginia) : Explosive cult cab nose displaying concentrated opulent black fruit, cremes de cassis, blackberry liqueur, blueberry pie, licorice, luxurious oak, cappuccino, lead pencil sweet spices and mineral. Exceptional concentration, layers upon layers of rich concentrated black fruit, unctuous and rich, good silkiness, perfect amount of acidity and mineral, strong but very sweet tannins, and a long ripe black fruit driven finish with luxurious oak at the end. This may require another decade …

2013 vintage

From a magnum bottle. 2.5h decant. A big and bold, deep wine. Ironically, easy to drink. Full body, tannin high, Acidity M+, Intensity high, Complexity M(weak point). Tarted~dried black & violet fruits, forest. aged flavor like a soy sauce. vanilla oak hazelnut. less than my expectation. I'm a little disappointed, but obviously a good wine. I don't think there will be a significant improvement to aging more years. drink now

2007 vintage

Similar notes apply and a slight downgrade based on previous weekend’s activities.

2010 vintage

My second favorite wine of the night, and one with potential to improve with more bottle age. This was a fruit-forward wine with a hint of alcohol and some tertiary characteristics that should further develop. Black and red fruit on the nose and palate, with black fruit dominating. There was also some earthiness and spice on the palate that should become more prevalent with some additional bottle age. Group ranked this 5 of 6, and I ranked it #2 (but …

2007 vintage

Virtual Double Blind Bordeaux Blend Smackdown (Home) : Saturated very dark red/purple color. Aerated and decanted for 3 hours and then poured into vessels for transport at 4:30pm. I like the nose here much more than the palate. Earth, dried spices and cinnamon, black fruits and green notes. The palate seemed a little weird to me, astringent, a little green, dark fruits, brooding, quite peppery, woody and spicy. Finished it up 36 hours later. It was more settled, and I …

2007 vintage

Bordeaux Blends Smackdown (Zoom) : Drank double blind, the wine was decanted 3 hours. This wine was hard to assess, it seemed slightly green, had a lot going on but wasn't that expressive. I wish I could have assessed it further, not knowing what I was drinking, and being the 7th wine, I was grading on a curve here.

2007 vintage

Two hour decant: full bodied, concentrated dusty blackberry, spice, leather, dark chocolate coats your palate; chalky tannins, very well balanced. Cellared since release, my last 97. Made my evening.

1997 vintage

Second day also blind. 100% Cab. Tannin easy at first but got rougher in decanter, quite chewy and heavy. No oak Napa. 93+

2010 vintage

2155, served blind. Bordeaux blend. This bottle is very different from the '12, a lot more tannins, less smooth, good core strength. Need a lot more time to open. 93+

2010 vintage

Still big and needs long decanting (2 hrs in bottle or 1hour in decanter). Food wine. Will probably stay at prak level for 5+ more years.

2010 vintage

Fantastic Napa Cab!

2005 vintage

Sadly, this was over the hill. Not enjoyable. Bummed. I have one more left. I will open it soon. I had a bottle a few months back that was in good shape, so I'm thinking this was an issue with the cork. Haven't had any other issues with bottles from this shipment and they've all been in my cellar for a long while.

2001 vintage

After a closed stage, it’s drinking beautifully! Lots of fruit with tannins nicely integrated. Probably even better over the next 5-7 years.

2007 vintage

Another Year, Another Napa (aka Winter in Wineland IV); 1/5/2020-1/11/2020 (Napa/Sonoma California) : As we've continued our wine journey I have to admit that sometimes you try a wine that just is a bit of hedonism (not a lot, not a TRB which is almost always overdone for my palate), but there's some plushy and some fruit and some velvet and it hits that sensor in your brain that harkens back to childhood and something that is definitely not the …

2005 vintage

The 2007 NVR is always a hit, and these mags were no exception. A very good vintage.

2007 vintage

Napa with friends; 8/15/2019-8/18/2019 (Napa, CA) : Pop and pour. A well made Napa cabernet in more of a concentrated, powerful style - dark fruited, with some black licorice, dark chocolate and mint. Still young but entering the drinking window - would allow these to continue to rest if they were in my cellar.

2010 vintage

Acquired some NVR 2001 as a "back-door"/lower price entree into 2001 Bond and Harlan. While remenisent to some extent (some of the gorgeous aromas and flavors, powerful long-lived wines) I found the Napa Reserve 2001 closer in style to Maiden and Matriarch -- which are delightful, but come at a lower price-point.

2001 vintage

Before I opened it, I was worried I'd have a sad experience. Happy to say this wine is definitely not over the hill. It is mature and well integrated. Very enjoyable bordering on excellent. Having had both this and the 2001 Harlan, this is not the same as the 2001 Harlan. Not quite as good but still excellent. Less oak, more spice. Not sure where cellar tracker thinks this is available for $51 a bottle - if you find some …

2001 vintage

Offerte à Léon

2013 vintage

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The Napa Valley Reserve, Reserve, Napa Valley

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