2008 Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon

2008 Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon

As has become tradition, our Rock Arch cabernet, the last grapes to be picked in 2008, is featured prominently in our Reserve Cabernet, the final wine of the vintage to be released. This year we are also very excited to have a new contributor to the blend. Our "Jim's Vineyard" block, planted in 2006 with green-growing bench-grafts taken from the 30-year-old Rock Arch block, produced a tiny crop that made an elixir so tantalizing it just had to be featured in our crown jewel reserve wines. Jim's shares many of the unique traits we love about Rock Arch – inky black color, massive but supple tannins, and flavor intensity that won't quit. But "Jim's," named after founder Jim Pride, has a lushness and voluptuousness we have never experienced from Rock Arch. With flavors of black cherry, kirsch, plum, dark chocolate and hazelnut, the 2008 Reserve Cab is a concentrated, velvety, smile-inducing, "wow" wine.

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Appellation: Napa
Sonoma
Vintage: 2008
Harvest: November 2008
Fermentation: Stainless Steel
Cooperage: French Oak
Blend: 97% Cabernet Sauvignon
3% Petite Verdot
Alcohol: 15.2%
Bottling: July 2010
Production: 1245 cases
Release Date: April 2011
Release Price: $130.00

Reviews

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  • Stephen Tanzer's International Wine Cellar: May/June 2011 Issue 156 - Rating: 94

    Deep medium ruby. Pure, lively aromas of blackberry, licorice, dark chocolate and smoked meat. Dense and lush, but with lovely energy and lift to the flavors of currant, licorice and herbs. Really lovely fruit here, with suave, ripe acidity and firm but sweet tannins giving the finish a juicy sweetness not currently displayed by the 2007, which is bigger and more powerful but less showy today.

  • Wine Spectator: November 30, 2011 - Rating: 90

    Intense and at points rustic and chewy, full-bodied and dense, with complex, firm and tannic, giving the dark berry flavors a dry savory edge. Rambles over rough terrain, yet remains complex and alluring. Best from 2013 through 2023. 1,245 cases made.

  • The Wine Advocate: December 2011: Issue 198 - Rating: 92

    The 2008 Cabernet Sauvignon Reserve is a big, powerful wine loaded with fruit. The tannins are equally imposing. Today the wine comes across as painfully young, but the Reserve has a track record of aging beautifully in bottle, so it will be interesting to see where the 2008 goes over the coming years. Sweet mint, new leather and licorice are some of the nuances that add complexity on the focused, articulate finish. Anticipated maturity: 2018-2028.

  • California Grapevine: May 2012 - Rating: 92

    Medium-dark ruby; attractive, forward, intense, spicy, complex, black cherry and red berry fruit aroma with notes of cassis, dried herbs, and dark chocolate; full body; big, rich, textured, extracted, chewy, cassis and blackberry fruit flavors with good depth and mouth coating richness; full tannin; lingering aftertaste. Deserves several more years of bottle aging. Very highly recommended.