Wines

93 Points! A very pretty wine now with cedar, mushrooms and dried red fruit. Medium body, fine tannins and a subtle, polished finish. A wonderful old Rioja now. Magnum bottle. Drink now and enjoy. - JamesSuckling.com

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100 Points! Wow. Fabulous aromas of currants, rosemary, mint and orange peel. Perfect nose. Full body with perfectly integrated tannins. It's long and incredible with tangerine, toasted-oak, berry, terracotta and chocolate flavors. It lasts for minutes on the palate. This needs at least five years to soften but so spellbinding now. - JamesSuckling.com

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100 Points! In 2002 very small yields produced only about 3,000 cases at 14.7% natural alcohol and a blend of 94% Cabernet Sauvignon and 6% Cabernet Franc. This wine is going from strength to strength since I first tasted it prior to bottling. Now a perfect wine, the incredible perfume of blueberries, black raspberries and cassis, along with white flowers and camphor is extraordinarily fragrant and intense. That is easily matched by the magnificent full-bodied richness and compellingly layered mouthfeel of this wine that is rich, full-bodied and a still youthful vintage that remains capable of another 25-30 years of cellaring. This is a dramatic vintage for Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon, and it is always fascinating to taste a top winery’s 2001 and 2002 next to each other because they are both such great years. However, the 2002s tend to be the more flamboyant wines, and the 2001s the more structured and broodingly backward. - Robert Parker, robertparker.com, 2016

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94+ Points! Still firm, backward and atypically youthful for a 2002, Rudd’s blend of Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc, Merlot, Malbec and Petit Verdot displays enormous promise, but it needs to be forgotten for another 3-5 years. Its inky/blue/purple color is followed by notes of graphite, roasted coffee, subtle barbecue smoke, blackberries, blueberries and hints of acacia flowers, ink and camphor. Rich, full-bodied and layered, it should be at its peak between 2017-2037. - Robert Parker, robertparker.com, 2012

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95 Points! The 2002 Cabernet Sauvignon Oakville Estate is a 2,550-case blend of 78% Cabernet Sauvignon, 9% Cabernet Franc, and the rest Merlot, Petit Verdot, and Malbec. It is aged 20 months in new French oak prior to bottling. This super effort comes across as a Napa version of top-flight Pauillac. Dense ruby/purple to the rim with a gorgeous nose of smoke, cedar, burning wood fires, and creme de cassis, this powerful, intensely rich, complex Cabernet reveals notions of chocolate, charcoal, and blackberry fruit. It should age effortlessly for up to 15 or more years. - Robert Parker, robertparker.com

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99 Points! This 2002 was virtually perfect when I tasted it in early May. Even better than I predicted seven years ago, this 4,500-case blend of 85% Cabernet Sauvignon, 8% Cabernet Franc and the rest Petit Verdot and Merlot has blossomed beautifully, revealing even greater intensity and potential than I predicted. A flawless, seamless integration of tannin, wood, alcohol and acidity is found in this dense, plum/purple-colored Dominus, along with copious notes of sweet black currants interwoven with kirsch, forest floor, unsmoked cigar tobacco, new saddle leather and forest floor. Full-bodied with velvety tannins, stunning elegance and a 45-second finish, this sensational 2002 rivals two of the all-time great wines made at Dominus, 1991 and 1994. It is hard to believe that proprietor Christian Moueix’s Dominus Estate has already celebrated its 25th anniversary and is moving toward 30 years with the 2012-2013 vintages. The 2002 will drink well for another 20 years. - Robert Parker, robertparker.com, 2012

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96 Points! As I recall, the first vintage of Cliff Lede wines I tasted was 2005, so this was the first time I tasted the 2002 Cabernet Sauvignon Poetry, a blend of 88% Cabernet Sauvignon, 4% Merlot and the rest tiny quantities of Cabernet Franc, Malbec and Petit Verdot from the Stags Leap District. It is still a youthful wine, it has a dense purple color as well as a stunning nose of spring flowers, asphalt, graphite, black currants, blueberries, raspberries and kirsch intermixed with hints of smoke and charcoal. Full-bodied, elegant, authoritative and substantial, with a 45-second finish, this 2002 is clearly capable of lasting another 20 years. - Robert Parker, robertparker.com, 2012

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94 Points! The 2011 Reserva red is a field blend from old vines (with 80% of the grapes sourced from vines 80+ years old), plus 20% combined of Touriga Nacional and Touriga Franca from vines of approximately 20 years of average age. The blend was aged in French barriques (70% new) for 17 months. In one of Douro's biggest vintages, Vallado managed to produce a surprisingly elegant and nuanced wine. That was true the first and second time I saw this long ago. This has evolved well. It shows finesse and grace at this point. The big tannins have moderated, and the wine never seems as ripe or as jammy as the 2007. (That's a relative term—the 2007 isn't all that jammy as these things go.) Yet this is a prime-time wine with finesse, elegance and fine fruit, finishing with some understatement in flavor. Unlike the 2007, this isn't as likely today to hit you over the head or grab your attention, but it is completely seductive and perfectly balanced. The texture caresses the palate with velvet. The tannins are much riper. The fruit is still there and tasty but never too obvious. It will be interesting to see how this holds and how it evolves. Unlike the 2007 or even the 2008, this seems ready without a lot of concern over whether future aging will make it a lot better. - Mark Squires, robertparker.com

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97 Points! A gorgeous, sleek wine with super-polished tannins and fabulous fruit. It's full but so refined and sexy. It goes on for minutes. Really fine. What a wine. This Bordeaux blend from here is the best ever. - JamesSuckling.com

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95 Points! A traditional beauty that effuses iron, warm earth and savory tobacco leaves, together with plums, spices and orange zest. This is juicy and still tight, with firm but savory tannins. Medium-weight and quite zesty in texture, as is the case with the other López de Heredia reds tasted this session. Drink now or hold. - JamesSuckling.com

94 Points! The 2011 Viña Tondonia Reserva is darker and shows riper fruit, a rounder palate and some dusty tannins. A year of ripeness, concentration and tannin, the wine is powerful with the finesse of Tondonia. Tasting this next to the textbook 2010 Tondonia revealed how this has more muscle and a wider back and the 2010 epitomizes the finesse and elegance. - Luis Gutierrez, robertparker.com

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95 Points! A very complex, aged Rioja with savory plums, mushrooms, bark, red earth, orange peel and cedar. Quite juicy, fresh and bright on the palate with a tangy, zesty palate, full of berries and oranges. Firm, long and complex with a mouthwatering finish. Such a traditional taste! Drink now or hold. - JamesSuckling.com

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95 Points! Medium to deep garnet in color, the 2002 Noon Eclipse contains 30% Langhorne Creek fruit from the “20 Rows” block. With evolving aromas of plum preserves, Christmas pudding, dark chocolate, espresso and licorice alongside nuances of earth and creme de cassis, this very big, rich and full-bodied wine offers plenty of dried fruit and spice flavor layers with just enough acid to refresh and a medium level of chewy tannins to frame. It finishes very long. Mature and drinking nicely now, it should cellar to 2017+. - Lisa Perrotti-Brown, robertparker.com February 2013 Learn More

96 Points! The 2002 Cabernet Sauvignon Reserve (400 cases) is a 100% Cabernet from 30-year-old vines that spent 18 months in both small and large oak barrels. It exhibits a striking bouquet of graphite, creme de cassis, new saddle leather, Chinese black tea, and vanilla. The complex aromatics are followed by a full-bodied wine of compelling purity and nobleness with layers of concentration as well as intensity. One of the most prodigious Australian Cabernet Sauvignons ever made, it should hit its prime in 3-5 years, and last for two decades or more. - Robert Parker, October 2004 Learn More