2002 Etude Cabernet Sauvignon Napa Valley
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Tasting notes
The blockbuster 2002 Cabernet Sauvignon Napa came from two sources, the Morisoli Vineyard in St. Helena and the Cohn Vineyard in Rutherford (the source for the famous Scarecrow Cabernet Sauvignon). This fabulous, dense ruby/purple wine is a blend of 95% Cabernet Sauvignon and 5% Cabernet Franc. It exhibits a deep creme de cassis nose with hints of charcoal, graphite and spring flowers. Full-bodied, rich and youthful, it appears to have at least 20 years of life left in it. This is a wine that clearly flew under the radar, and if it can still be found and the provenance is excellent, it is definitely a big-time buy. These are two impressive wines from Tony Soter, who still consults from time to time at Beringer, but is ensconced in Oregon, making wonderful sparkling wines and Oregon Pinot Noir. Tel. (877) 586-9361
Critic scores
Robert Parker
Stephen Tanzer, Vinous
More reviews and scores
(just bottled) Ruby-red. Very ripe, rather claret-like aromas of currant, smoke, cedar, tobacco, lead pencil and mint. Then sweet, dense and seamless, with terrific depth of flavor. Finishes very long, with fine-grained tannins. This has a rather full 14.6% alcohol for an Etude cabernet but has the extract to support it.
Good ruby-red. Crystallized blackcurrant and licorice aromas verge on exotic. Supersweet, ripe and dense, but a bit youthfully monolithic. Penetrating flavors of dark berries, licorice and cedar. As ripe as this is, it's also solidly structured and firmly tannic. Soter can't believe this will be as generous or complex as the 2001, but then he still recalls the harvest-time heat.