Groth, Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon, Napa Valley

Decanted and enjoyed with a smoked beef tenderloin for Easter dinner. Even at ten years, this visually appears very youthful. In development, but still BIG, with neither black fruits, tannins, oak, nor acidity being close to full integration. Always impressive, but requires hearty food and a very long decant. This should safely cellar for 10+ years.

2015 vintage

WS 95 RP 93

2019 vintage

Wonderful, great oak - good for at least 3-4 more years, but drinking great now.

2015 vintage

This wine is ready to drink. It has aromas of plum and vanilla, with hitting the palate with flavors of black cherry, blackberry, plum, and smoked wood. It has firm tannins, and a long, long finish. Cheers

2019 vintage

Well balanced on the tongue. Easy finish.

2022 vintage

Very pretty red fruit character on the nose. Soft and easy on the palate. Delicious, above average in quality. At $150 I guess I would say average in value.

2019 vintage

Wine Tasting in Napa (St Helena and Oakville, CA) : Winery Tasting. IMHO this is consistently their best and highest quality offering. Youthful and still relatively primary. Black fruits, structure and oak need more time to integrate. Decanting and hearty food required short term. Drink through 2035+.

2019 vintage

Fully mature black fruits witless of mint, some eucalyptus, all in from of earthy, mushroom notes. Good enough power and weight, this is still nicely charming.

1990 vintage

well past its prime

1995 vintage

Update from previous review. Two hour decant. More fragrant. Black fruits, plum, chocolate and pencil lead. Smooth and balanced with grippy tannins and a long finish. Improvement from last bottle a year ago. An even longer decant would have been better as this kept getting better with hours of glass time.

2015 vintage

Still drinking young with strong tannins. Great body and balance

1995 vintage

This review was for the 1985 Groth Reserve.

1995 vintage

I think the 2019 is my favourite Groth Reserve in recent years, this is plush, elegant yet refined. No big bulky fruit or big tannins, this perfectly showcases the 2019 vintage. Aromas of dark black fruit, cassis, plum, crushed florals, bay leaves, chocolate and unsmoked tobacco. The palate is elegant and refined, no other words to describe, with dark lush yet restrained black fruit, tons of cassis, black cherry, blackcurrant along with bitter chocolate and mineral sparks, the mid-palate is …

2019 vintage

This was quite disappointing compared to the last one I had. This was muted, not so inviting and a bit closed and cool. Definitely over-priced for what it was.

2015 vintage

Two hour decant. Muted nose. Red and black fruits, vanilla, chocolate. Medium/full bodied. Traditional Napa cab, somewhat understated. Small step up from their regular cab. Balanced with medium length finish.

2015 vintage

Very smooth. Fruit is present drink now through the next 10 years. Long lasting. Just an overall great wine

2019 vintage

Solid.

2015 vintage

Ouvert, bois, beaucoup de fruit, belle bouche avec une belle acidité, assez fin comme calicab

2019 vintage

Caberent Based Lunch (Schur House - Riverwoods IL) : Ripe and wonderfully spiced, this fooled half the blind tasters into thinking it ripe vintage Bordeaux from the 80s. Not powerful, but full of nooks and crannies. Oddly enough, this was just as good on Day Two, as more mint and eucalyptus emerged.

1990 vintage

Fantastic wine, good amount of fruit but it’s not overly done and the finish is amazing, slightly tannic with layers of spice and more fruit

2015 vintage

Still very youthful but at it's peak in this stage of its life. Probably another 10 years to go from a primary fruit standpoint. A bit more wood on the nose than I'd like but the floral characteristics more than made up for that.

1995 vintage

Good color and body. At first bright cheery upfront with plum and other fruit to follow. I did not get wood or vanilla on this one. I liked it, it will keep for many years, I did not find it complex.

2015 vintage

WTSO Premium Wine Club Event from November 17. $100 for the 2015 Oakville East Exposure and the 2015 Growth Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon. Looking forward to Champagne on December 15. Day 1: Quintessential Napa Valley Cabernet. While this lacks the elegance of the Oakville East it does deliver what many love including me about Napa. Rich wine with blueberries, dark cherry, dark chocolate, spice, oak, vanilla and floral notes. Medium to long finish. A touch of heat. 92+ points Day 2: …

2015 vintage

Was worried this was not going to be ready for prime time based on some reviews suggesting it was closed and needed way more time, but I was pleasantly surprised at how pretty and open this was. I've very fond memories of Groth as it was one of the very first wineries I visited on my first real introduction to wine in 2000. This feels very traditional and classy in style - nothing overdone, you get the sense that they …

2015 vintage

Decanted for an hour and consumed over the following two. Last glass was the best. Initially, grainy mouthfeel with flavors of cinnamon, leather and cherry as well as plenty of blue fruits. The graininess faded as the wine opened up. Just now beginning to show its' true character with tannins remaining front and center. Has the potential to gain a point or two with further aging.

2015 vintage

This is a stellar vintage from Groth and shows what the excitement about the 2019 is all about. This shows bright blackcurrants, red currents, dried earth, tyme, cacao and black pepper. The palate is medium-full bodied and vibrant with restrained black fruit dusted in cacao, finely grained tannins, spicy and rich mid-palate which lead to a savoury and lingering finish. This is certainly a winery pushing wines above their name suggests.

2019 vintage

Tonight this was an enjoyable wine with some nice flavors but not exceptional or remarkable. Some deeper fruits showing in the first 1-2 hours but no development after that.

2015 vintage

Have been a fan of this winery since 1985, and groth cabs are probably the wines that started me collecting. However, I drifted away once Nils Venge stopped crafting them. I found little that distinguishes this from the regular bottling. It is lean, herbaceous, with a short finish, to my palate. This is the second of 3 bottles recently purchased.

2015 vintage

Impressive. My fifth vintage of this offering dating back to 2008. Always consistent, showcasing Oakville’s outstanding terrior. Notable red currant, red berries, dried red dirt and chewy mulch, wrapped around a dry tannic structure with fresh acidity. Just entering development, still displaying some youthful characteristics. Perfect accompaniment with the grilled NY strip. Long finish. Decant over the next 1-2 years; drink or cellar through 2035+.

2015 vintage

Good but not great bottle. Still green bell pepper notes dominate on the nose, but it opened up after three hours and started to show dark berries and a little oak. Well balanced in the the mouth, with fruit, tannin, acidity all represented, but no wow factor. Maybe it was the vintage. I’m not sure this will improve with age.

2011 vintage

Lived up to exceptional reputation, even though we had no way to decant at the event where consumed....so it will be even better with proper handling!

2015 vintage

Spectacular wine. Fresh, vibrant, loads of fruit and can go for a few more decades.

1995 vintage

Chris G loved this wine was very nice 94 all day

1995 vintage

Held up really well very nice surprise

1995 vintage

This was not a great vintage in Napa, and Groth seems like it follows the trend of underripe fruit. It has a strong green pepper component and brittle tannins. The fruit is restrained and without the sort of depth you would expect from an Oakville Bench wine. It’s not a bad wine, but it suffers from the vintage. Drink with a two hour decant. I will not be seeking this out.

2011 vintage

Like other reviews, there is not much fruit. Just a flat, somewhat minerally, monolithic drink. It’s okay with food but not anything I’d look forward to opening in the future.

2011 vintage

I have had this a number of times since the 90's and always found it a wonderful wine. I have not found it out of balance or lacking fruit or weedy like I have read. Just a great aged cab. Parker gave this 100 points on release and I couldn't disagree though there are stories on why he gave this wine 100 points and it is worth noting that it was the first Napa cab to hit that perfect score. …

1995 vintage

90/91. Similar to last taste a year or so ago. It’s 2011 so less fruit and more green notes with spice. Day two was better as the wine mellowed a bit.

2011 vintage

This is waaaayyy too young to drink and rate. For now, I would rate 91 because its nose was quite pleasant (and shows great potential), with cherries, oak, smoke and earthiness. The tannins, for my taste, was too prominent (and I can tolerate tannins) and had a bit of tartness/sourness. This suggest to me the wine needs to be aged for another 3-5 years. By then I suspect the wine will be more Bordeaux-ish (it will never be, and I …

2015 vintage

Give it 6+ hours to open up

2015 vintage

Agree with other notes- not a great bottle but did steadily improve over the night. Indicative of the vintage sadly. One more bottle- will drink up sooner rather than later.

2011 vintage

Very ready to drink

2011 vintage

Alex's note is pretty accurate. I found this very intriguing on the nose with lots of subtle, savory notes with some red fruited characteristics. Very shy and reserved on the palette, tightening up the more air it was exposed too. Still at this stage it offered lots of enjoyment. My first Groth so not sure how this lines up with their house style. Have several more I will lay down.

2015 vintage

This was good in that the fruit quality is there, and while the wood spice and heavy oaky nose has its pleasures, it feels a little too heavy handed, for me. Reminds me of the top end Robert mondavi offerings - which are great crowd pleasing drinkers - especially if you can get them at discount. But this Groth Reserve is running around $100 , you can just do so much better for less, imho.

2015 vintage

Tasted at the winery, aromas were quite shy with dark cherries, dark plums, cacao, dried florals, potting soil and black pepper. The palate is certainly reserved at this stage, however, shows the full potential of this valley floor Cabernet. It is medium-bodied with dark fruit interwoven with dusty tannins, cacao, black pepper, quite savoury as well with forest floor and dried herbs underneath. Long finish, this needs another 5 years. Important to note that this is more reserved than most …

2015 vintage

Excellent bottle. Give it an hour or so to open up. This has great balance and isn’t very tannic. There are nuanced flavors that come out with every sip.

2015 vintage

Dark, Ruby edges. Nose is dominated by oak. Strong oaky vanilla. smooth but tart. Dark currant. Nice fruit but more new oak than was necessary.

2015 vintage

This $130 reserve wine was surprisingly sour and tart and even after 30 min or so in the decanter it only softened a bit. However, the aroma was fantastic and color very appealing. Became ok at the end, this wine had to breath or age in the cellar for a few years. This is wine I ‘may’ buy again.

2015 vintage

From magnum. Had with Korean BBQ at Miga. Really liked this wine. Was disappointed with this winery after having less than stellar experiences with better vintages, but this 2011 was singing. PnP and the wine was gone in 30 minutes. No need to decant. Absolutely at peak. Followed by 2015 Pride Cabernet but Groth Reserve was much much better.

2011 vintage

Already a winner - could use some more time, but with a 2-3 hour decant this is really great. A clear step up above the estate bottling.

2015 vintage

Are you sure?

Groth, Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon, Napa Valley

Vintages

No vintages

Community Reviews