2005 Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon

2005 Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon

Displaying blue fruit notes ranging from mulberry and blueberry to cassis, this dense, weighty wine is not afraid to flaunt its personality. Coffee, anise and tobacco flavors can be found in its depth, while the finish lingers for over a minute. Tannic yet jammy Cabernet Sauvignon grapes from our 25-year old Rock Arch vineyard make up the backbone of this wine, while our more unctuousQuartz Hill and Rim Rock vineyards round out the mid-palate and add finesse. The blend is polished with 0.5% Petit Verdot to add acid and spice. Approachable when young by those who are not intimidated by its heft, this wine will reveal layers of complexity as it evolves over the next 15 to 20 years.

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Appellation: Napa
Sonoma
Vintage: 2005
Harvest: October 2005
Fermentation: Stainless Steel
Cooperage: French Oak
Blend: 95.5% Cabernet Sauvignon
4.5% Petit Verdot
Alcohol: 14.5%
Bottling: December 2007
Production: 1291 cases
Release Date: March 2008
Release Price: $125.00

Reviews

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  • The Wine Advocate: Issue #219, June 2015, online - Rating: 96+

    Almost as impressive is the 2005 Cabernet Reserve, a blend of 95.5% Cabernet Sauvignon and 4.5 % Petit Verdot, in this case sourced 58% from Sonoma County and 42% from Napa. Its 14.5% alcohol is slightly lower than its sibling’s. This full-bodied wine is very concentrated, with a saturated bluish/purple color and a classic nose of mocha and espresso intermixed with crème de cassis and charcoal. The finish is a good 40-45 seconds, and the wine has a remarkable vibrancy and freshness from the vintage’s acidity. This is terrific stuff to drink now and over the next 12-15 years.

  • The Wine Advocate: December 28, 2007, Issue 174 - Rating: 96-98

    Even more impressive (than the 2005 Reserve Claret) is the 2005 Cabernet Sauvignon Reserve. Its inky/purple hue is accompanied by aromas and flavors of incense, pain grille, blackberries, blueberries, and cassis. It is a rich, dense, full-bodied, pure, layered effort that should drink well for 15 or so years.

  • Wine Spectator: November 15, 2008 - Rating: 96

    Rich and complex, brimming with dense, opulent yet elegant layers of mocha, black cherry, blackberry and wild berry fruit that's pure, focused, deep and persistent, ending with mouthcoating flavors and ripe, fleshy tannins. Drink now through 2015. 1,291 cases made. –JL

    #35 Wine Spectator Top 100 Wines of 2008

  • Connoisseurs' Guide: April 2009 - Rating: 92

    The biggest, boldest and most extravagant of Pride's current crop of Cabernets, the Reserve is a wine of immense size and substance with a great sense of depth and a fruity heart to handle its lavish appointment of sweet oak. It may teeter on the brink of being a bit overdone, but, for all of its swagger, it never lets ripeness or oak take the reins, and its themes of concentrated cassis govern its flavors from entry all the way through to its moderately tannic, youthfully gruff finish. Put it away for five years at a minimum, and count on it getting better for up to ten more.

  • Stephen Tanzer's International Wine Cellar: May/June 2009, Issue 144 - Rating: 93

    Good full medium ruby. Crushed black fruits, licorice, sandalwood, tobacco and cocoa powder on the nose. Sweet and silky but juicy, with dark fruit and exotic spice flavors offering lovely inner-mouth aromatic character. This has a distinctly briary mountain berry aspect. The longest of (the Pride) offerings, with ripe acidity and rather powerful tannins giving it a big structure.

  • California Grapevine: April/May 2009 - Rating: 91

    Medium-dark ruby color; attractive, herbal, cedary, cassis and blackberry fruit aroma with notes of green olive and vanilla; full body; forward, rich, textured, plummy, dark currant and blackberry fruit flavors with a touch of mocha and a pleasing mouthfeel; full tannin; lingering aftertaste. Approachable now though deserving another five years of bottle aging. Very highly recommended.