TN: 1995 Arrowood Cabernet Sauvignon Réserve Spéciale

B_Buzzini · May 27, 2015, 11:43pm

1995 Arrowood Cabernet Sauvignon Réserve Spéciale - USA, California, Sonoma County (5/27/2015)
LOVE this producer in the day……20yr old wine from a classic vintage……cellared since release….beautiful dark cherry color…perfect old school Cali cab nose…dried herbs, tobacco, licorice, creme de cassis, old cellar dust……silky smooth and pure in the mouth…really quite youthful, still has a nice kick with the dusty and spicy tannin…but MAN…the age has polished this wine into a beauty! The perfect ripeness of dark berry fruit, still fresh, layered with complexities of flowers, crushed graphite, dried bing cherry, lead pencil…little menthol on this finish. Finesse…seamless purity…just a classic mouthful of Cabernet goodness….with plenty of fuel left in the tank! Brilliant! (95 pts.)

Ty_Hockstaff · May 28, 2015, 12:57am

Awesome color, awesome cellar, awesome glass! Salute!

Joe_G_a_l_e_w_s_k_i · May 28, 2015, 1:13am

Nice.

T_Melloni · May 28, 2015, 1:29am

I was about to post a note on the 1993 version of the Arrowood Reserve. Opened my sole bottle in celebration of a recent college graduate for whom 1993 is her birth year.
A wonderful wine, and your notes for the 95 are similar to mine for the 93.
Smooth, round and elegant.

I have high hopes for my 94s and 96s, although they are the regular bottling and not the Reserve.

Diane_Kessler · May 28, 2015, 3:04am

I opened a bottle this past December - I loved it but it needed lots of air.

Arv_R · May 28, 2015, 4:32am

What a nice cellar you have. One of the few California producers I buy semi regularly.

Dennis_Kanagie · May 28, 2015, 12:23pm

I’m glad there are a few others enjoying the '95 now, and Arrowood in general. While the raves about Arrowood’s '94 and '97 Reserve Speciale may very well be deserved, the '95 is head & shoulders above both those vintages. It might be at it’s peak right now. Whenever I bring a bottle to my wine club, everyone - novice or ITB - loves it, from the cult Cab fans all the way to the Bordeaux loyalists.

Thanks to the Wine Gods (and wine-searcher) for helping me locate two more 750ml bottles recently to augment the six 750ml and two 1.5L bottles currently in the cellar. Even that might not be enough.

For those who can’t find the '95, the '05 is worth looking at. It’s a pinch darker in flavor and the tannins still need a few years, but in a happy place now.

… and if you’re ever offered a chance to wet your lips with Arrowood’s '01 Monte Rosso single vineyard Cab, jump on it. That might be even better than their '95 RS.

(Edited for grammar & clarity)

K_John_Joseph · May 28, 2015, 12:54pm

Agreed, very nice wine. I’ve had the pleasure of the 94, 95, and 97 and preferred the 95. This producer went a little RP crazy after a nice stretch of runs and fell apart a little in my opinion, but their older wines are holding up well if you can find ones that have been stored nicely. That one certainly has. Look at the cork and color. Making my mouth water!

Dan.Gord0n · May 28, 2015, 2:10pm

Thanks for the note and glad Tom ear that it is still going strong. Back in the day, I went through 7-8 of them and really enjoyed the wine. Still have 1-2 and will have to pop one soon and see if it performs similarly.

Thomas_Keim · May 28, 2015, 3:12pm

thanks for the note Brian - I was wondering how this wine was doing - haven’t had it in years -

Wasn’t it the '95 that got most of the hype for the Arrowood wines in the 90s? I seem to remember it getting a horde of press -

T_Schaffler · May 28, 2015, 3:27pm

I thought it was the 94 that got all the press.

Dennis_Kanagie · May 28, 2015, 4:26pm

Yes - the '94 was the vintage that got all the hype. It’s good, but doesn’t have the staying power or balance of the '95. We drank our last bottle of '94 late last year and decided not to bother trying to restock. There are similar qualities to the '99; even more so the '02 - a little more red fruit. Last year we finished up the few bottles of '99 we had… the last might have been on New Year’s Eve. Personally, I think '99 was an overrated vintage and we aren’t seeking any more bottle of that year either. That leaves the '02. I like my Cabs to be all dark fruit so that’s not on the list either. If we want a wine with more of a red fruit profile, we now look to Burgundy.

The next year that reminds me of the '95 is '01. So much so that we’re sitting on 11 bottles of Reserve and 12 bottles of Monte Rosso as mentioned earlier in this thead.

K_John_Joseph · May 28, 2015, 8:13pm

The 94, 95, and 97 all got a ton of press. RP 96, 94, 97 back before everything got those scores.

S_e_a_n_Dusseau · June 19, 2015, 4:36pm

Has anyone tested the staying power of the non-reserve bottlings of Arrowood? Specifically, I think my dad has some random 94 and 95 bottles of the normal Sonoma County Cabs.

Pat_Burton · June 19, 2015, 4:41pm

I recognize it isn’t the same wine, but the 1995 Arrowood “Domaine Grand Archer” Cabernet Sauvignon is on sale at KL. Three bottles available…

http://www.klwines.com/p/i?s=14E0B30B6619&i=300514

Dennis_Kanagie · June 19, 2015, 4:53pm

Um, that’s WAAAAAAAY past it’s prime. I bought one of them last year from K&L. It was so bad I contacted them and they gave me a credit for that bottle. The Grand Archer was Arrowood’s low end Cab. The 2001 Grand Archer was at the end of it’s lifespan when we drank our last bottle in June of last year. I think it only hung on that long because '01 was a monster year.

Dennis_Kanagie · June 19, 2015, 4:55pm

Depending on how it was stored, it could be very good or shot to hell. Pop one and let us know.

…or send one to me and I’ll volunteer to be the guinea pig.

Drew_Goin · June 20, 2015, 2:56am

The cork looks immaculate on that bottle!

A_S_K_R_O_B_A_C_K · June 30, 2015, 3:34am

Me too, but only have tried 1990s iterations. Have they kept up the style and quality?

J_a_y_H_a_c_k · June 30, 2015, 3:41am

I just saw my 1999 lying peacefully in the cellar this evening, autographed for me by Alis Arrowood when I bought it about 12 years ago. It’s getting temping.