Our Wines

2005 Reserve Claret

Plum jam, strawberry, kirsh, cocoa and maple syrup candy flavors present a beguiling introduction to a multi-dimensional wine that is both playful and serious. Silky and voluptuous up front, round through the mid-palate, and powerful in the finish, this wine is our classic blend of 2/3 expressive Lower Mountain Top Clone 3 Merlot balanced with 1/3 of our resolute Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon blend. The 2005 vintage presented us with near ideal growing conditions for our dense, mountain-top style. The Reserve Claret is quite approachable in its youth, but bold enough to cellar for 15 years.

Vintages: 2010 | 2009 | 2008 | 2007 | 2006 | 2005 | 2004 | 2003 | 2002 | 2001 | 2000 | 1999 | 1998 | 1997 | 1996 | 1995
Back to Full Wine List

Profile

Appellation:Napa/Sonoma
Vintage:2005
Harvest:October 2005
Fermentation:Stainless Steel
Cooperage:French Oak
Blend:67% Merlot/33% Cabernet Sauvignon
Alcohol:14.8%
Bottling:December 2005
Production:495 cases
Release Date:March 14, 2008
Price:$125.00
Sold Out
December 12 , 2009 Wine Enthusiast, July 2009

Rating: 93
This Bordeaux blend is enormously rich and densely concentrated in mountain fruitiness. It explodes with blackberry, black currant, chocolate, orange zest, roasted almond and sweet new oak flavors, wrapped into extraordinarily fine tannins. Shows a bit of sharpness that could indicate a mild level of volatility. But it’s a dramatic wine that should live for many, many years.

May 27, 2009 Stephen Tanzer's International Wine Cellar, May/June 2009, Issue 144

Rating: 92
Essentially a blend of two-thirds Vintner Select merlot and one-third reserve cabernet) Good medium ruby. Complex nose melds raspberry, tobacco, caramel and loam. Sweet but youthfully tight, with very good lift to the flavors of raspberry, graphite, cumin and turmeric. Plenty of cabernet structure here. Finishes with substantial dusty tannins. "Our biggest and most intense mountain-style wine" notes Steve Pride, adding that this wine was unapproachable early on.

May 27, 2009 California Grapevine, April/May 2009

Rating: 90
Medium to medium-dark ruby; attractive, forward, herbal, dark berry fruit aroma with notes of dill, tobacco, and green olive; full body; forward, rich, herbal, cedary, concentrated, dark currant flavors with good depth and showing some complexity; full tannin; a bit rough and harsh on the finish; lingering aftertaste. Very highly recommended.

April 22, 2009 The Wine Specator, Web Only

Rating: 92
A seductive style, offering complex layers of mocha and cedary oak alongside ripe, intense currant and wild berry fruit that's tight, focused, full-bodied and persistent on the finish. Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon. Drink now through 2017. 495 cases made. –JL

April 22, 2009 The Wine Advocate, December 2008, Issue 180

Rating: 95
A 500-case blend of 56% Napa fruit and 44% Sonoma fruit, the 2005 Reserve Claret (66% Merlot and 34% Cabernet Sauvignon) is a brilliant wine for the vintage. Its deep ruby/purple hue is followed by aromas of smoked herbs, black currants, blackberries, espresso roast, chocolate, and oak. The wine is gorgeously textured and opulent, with a sumptuous, long finish. It is drinking splendidly well, and should continue to do so for a decade or more.

April 22, 2009 Connoisseurs Guide, March 2009

Rating: 95
Among the richest and most outgoing wines in this issue, Pride's Reserve Claret is a fully extravagant wine that trades equally on deep fruit, ripeness and a wealth of lavish oak spice, but it never crosses over the line of being too much.Its tantalizing plumpness and succulent Merlot properties are offset just now by a bit of Cabernet toughness that prescribes a bit of patience, and make no mistake about it, this compelling effort is certainly bound for better, and it will continue to unfold for six to twelve years and last longer.

February 01, 2008 Wine Advocate, Dec. 28, 2007, Issue 174

Rating: (93-96)
From the barrel, the gorgeous 2005 Reserve Claret should turn out to be a top-notch example of Pride Mountain winemaking. It possesses a deep ruby/purple color as well as notes of black raspberries, espresso, sweet cherries, and notions of cedar as well as graphite. Full-bodied with strong tannins, a velvety texture, a voluptuous, long mouthfeel, and a 45+ second finish, this gorgeous 2005 should age for 15 or more years.

Vintages: 2010 | 2009 | 2008 | 2007 | 2006 | 2005 | 2004 | 2003 | 2002 | 2001 | 2000 | 1999 | 1998 | 1997 | 1996 | 1995
Back to Full Wine List