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2001 Robert Mondavi Winery Cabernet Sauvignon Reserve - USA, California, Napa Valley (5/5/2012)
Black cherries bursting out of the bottle on the decant revealing plenty of sediment to be filtered out. Rich dark fruits strongly emanate with a hinting of leafy greens evidencing the typically strong classic Mondavi nose. Despite my mixed impression on the 2001s, I expect good things to come based on the first impression. With the wine settling 30 minutes later the opulence has faded into a nicely broad and dense marbley blackberry and cassis nose begging for the first pour. First pour at the 60 minute mark (surprising myself) displays the signature Mondavi nose. If the color purple had a scent, this would be it. The first taste is a bit of a disappointment for my preferences as the angular alcohol flavor hides any structure or depth of flavor. By no means a bad wine – far from it – but typical for my experiences with 2001s. I spend a lot of words on the nose of a wine because that facet is disproportionately important to me any usually is a sign of things to come. Thus far that is not the case as the nose remains rich and flavorful and the juice is more narrow and comparatively less interesting. Checked my previous note and that wine opened at the 2hr mark – so see you then! … Far better wine at the 2hr mark. Hint of caramel on the nose and a textured tannic complexity on the palate revealing far greater structure than the earlier samples. Lesson learned. Completely different wine than only 1 hour ago. Dense and granular texture, grapes popping on the palate, soft alcohol alters/disappoints on the finish. Much more pleasant wine after a few hours and fitting of its reputation. (92 pts.)
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