America

94 Points! It offers deep and compelling aromas of red and black fruits, lead pencil, and traces of oak spices. This full-bodied, concentrated, and chewy wine is thick, dense, and gorgeously defined for such a massive wine. Its combination of power and elegance brought to mind the 1986 Margaux, one of the finest wines ever produced by that illustrious estate. When I first tasted this wine at the estate in Snohomish, Golitzen was worried that it was too big and powerful. I found myself in the all-too-rare position of defending a wine's qualities to the person who had made it! At a subsequent tasting, the wine had lost some of its youthful exuberance and Golitzen was enthused to see that it was gaining focus and elegance. This is a truly magnificent wine, and it will age remarkably well. - Pierre Antoine Rovani, robertparker.com

100 Points! An inky/plum/purple color is accompanied by a stunning bouquet of violets, charcoal, creme de cassis and a hint of toast. Prodigious when it hits the palate with a full-bodied expansiveness, there is not a hard edge to be found in the 1997, only velvety tannins, compelling depth and fruit intensity, and stunning purity. It is a perfect expression of Napa viticulture and wine that should continue to age effortlessly for two decades or more. An ideal warm, dry spring, June and July was followed by a surprisingly cool August that slowed down what looked to be rapid sugar accumulation in the grapes. September's temperatures were average to above average, without any potentially damaging heat spikes. This allowed the harvest to unfurl slowly, with no stress or imminent danger. For many Napa Cabernet Sauvignons, this resulted in one of the top vintages of the nineties. Consumers, observers and wine critics will undoubtedly argue for decades over which vintage of the nineties turned out to be the finest – 1991, 1992, 1994, 1995 or 1997. The 1997 Insignia is a 20,000-case blend of 83% Cabernet Sauvignon, 14% Merlot and 3% Petit Verdot, with 60% coming from estate vineyards and 40% from growers. The alcohol came in at 13.8%. - Robert Parker, robertparker.com 2013

91 Points! Spicy, generous and complex, with sharply focused currant, plum and nutmeg flavors that zing right through the long finish. A wine with rambunctious flavors that become polished and lively on the finish. - Wine Spectator

92 Points! With a vintage that continues to show some surprising wines (1998 was panned early on), this offers a take on what a cool and wet vintage can provide -- a slightly more austere edge to the structure along with more mulled fruit notes (dark currant and cherry), paired with a decidedly earth-, sage-, charcoal- and black tea–fueled finish. -- Non-blind Groth Cabernet vertical (August 2024). Drink now through 2032. - Wine Spectator

99 Points! The potentially perfect, opaque purple-colored 1997 Cabernet Sauvignon Wedding Vineyard (400 cases of 100% Cabernet Sauvignon) is made from 27-year-old vines, and is aged in 100% new French Taransaud barrels. This prodigious Cabernet Sauvignon has only gotten better since my tasting last year. The finest Cabernet I have tasted from Fisher, it represents a California interpretation of La Mission Haut-Brion. The wine offers sweet, tobacco-infused, scorched earth, blackberry, and blueberry notes, with a liquid minerality. The aromatics are matched by the immense, concentrated, seamless, staggeringly rich, powerful palate. This wine will benefit from 4-5 years of cellaring, and keep for 35-40 years. A modern-day California legend, it is one of the most profound California Cabernet Sauvignons ever made on the Sonoma side of California's North Coast viticultural region. - Robert Parker, robertparker.com

98 Points! A brilliant showing for Christian Moueix’s well-known Napanook Vineyard, the 2001 Dominus is a blend of 81% Cabernet Sauvignon, 5% Merlot, 4% Cabernet Franc and 10% Petit Verdot. A classic in the making, this is a flawless, seamless example of elegant, complex Napa Cabernet Sauvignon that possesses a Bordeaux-like personality. This gorgeous, sexy, opulent, dense ruby/purple-colored wine reveals sweet caramel, mocha, creme de cassis and kirsch notes intermixed with a hint of espresso roast as well as underbrush. Ripe, long and full-bodied with well-integrated tannin, acidity, alcohol and wood, this prodigious 2001 is drinkable now and over the next 25+ years given this estate’s longevity track record. A virtually perfect wine, it is one of the most complex 2001s at present. - Robert Parker, robertparker.com 2011

94 Points! The 1997 Dominus, a blend of 86.5% Cabernet Sauvignon, 9% Cabernet Franc, and 4.5% Merlot, is showing fabulously well. With 14.1% alcohol and a pH that would make many New World oenologists shudder (about 3.95), this wine is a fleshy, silky-textured, opulent wine with a gorgeous nose of roasted herbs, coffee, jammy black cherry and plum-like fruit. Asian spice, licorice, and blackberry and cherry notes with tobacco spice all add to this complex, very involved, yet gorgeously symmetrical Dominus. The wine is medium to full-bodied, very concentrated, and silky-textured. It is gorgeous to drink now, but should age easily for 10-15 years. - Robert Parker, robertparker.com

92 Points! The 1989 is undoubtedly the Cabernet Sauvignon of the vintage. The color is a dark ruby/purple and the nose offers up sweet, fragrant scents of black fruits, cedar, herbs, and spicy wood. In the mouth, there is extraordinary concentration, medium to full body, and an authoritatively rich, lingering finish. Terroirists will have a difficult time explaining why the wine tastes more like a Pomerol than Napa Cabernet. Interestingly, Moueix stated the key to his success in 1989 was to wait six to seven days after the rains had stopped before harvesting so the vines could shed their excess moisture. - Robert Parker, robertparker.com

96 Points! This firm, ripe, muscular wine that's tight, deep, structured, intense and concentrated, serving up a mix of ripe currant, cassis, plum, black cherry and blackberry fruit that's clean, pure, complex and layered, with touches of anise, cedar and black licorice. Ends with chewy tannins. - Wine Spectator 

96 Points! Caymus has been around for so long there is a tendency to under-estimate their wines. However, they have a brilliant track record as evidenced by the decade old 2001 Cabernet Sauvignon Vintage Selection. Abundant chocolaty, black currant, licorice and coffee aromas soar from the glass of this perfumed wine. It exhibits an opaque ruby/purple color, wonderful opulence, a deep, full-bodied mouthfeel, fabulous depth and not a hard edge to be found. While seemingly fully mature, the supple tannins, expansive fruit and glycerin, depth and overall balance suggest it will keep for another 15+ years. - Robert Parker, robertparker.com 2011

91 Points! Ripe, rich and complex, with layers of juicy plum, blackberry, anise, coffee and wild berry. Turns supple, with a sense of elegance and finesse. Firms up on the finish, where the tannins fold in. - Wine Spectator

95 Points! There are 3,900 cases of the prodigious 1997 Cardinale, comprised primarily of Cabernet Sauvignon with a tiny dollop of Merlot. The wine has an opaque bluish black/purple color, a knockout nose of black cherry liqueur intermixed with cassis, lead pencil, mineral, and smoky oak. The glorious richness in the mouth is backed up by a full-bodied, opulently-textured, super-extracted wine that is neither heavy nor ponderous. Stunning purity, a fabulous multi-layered impression, and a finish that goes on for nearly a minute make this the most exciting Cardinale to date. For statisticians, this is a blend of 91% Cabernet Sauvignon and 9% Merlot, of which 79% of the grapes came from Napa and 21% from Sonoma. It spent 22 months in 100% new French oak before being bottled with neither fining nor filtration. It tips the scales at 14.2% alcohol. - Robert Parker, robertparker.com

96 Points! Production: 18,000 cases; Alcohol: 13.98%; Blend: 97% Cabernet Sauvignon and 3% Cabernet Franc; Harvest Dates: October 9 to November 16. Made from Bancroft Ranch (34%), Tre Colline (36%), Chabot (19%) and the rest from the St. Helena Home Vineyard, the 1995 is not as complex as the 1994, but it is loaded with fruit. Still an adolescent in its development, it possesses a dense purple color along with a big, sweet bouquet of blackberries and cassis, a youthful mouthfeel, good acidity, full body, abundant fruit and glycerin and a long, heady finish. This vintage was somewhat forgotten because of all the hype surrounding 1994, but it has turned out to be a great one for Bordeaux varietals in Napa. This stunning Private Reserve should continue to drink well for another 15 or more years. - Robert Parker, robertparker.com 2011

97 Points! Production: 14,900 cases Alcohol: 13.7% Blend: 100% Cabernet Sauvignon; Harvest Dates: September 27 to October 31. This superb vintage in northern Napa Valley yielded smaller than normal quantities of Cabernet Sauvignon. It was basically problem free other than relatively small crops. Some torrid heat in early August created some problems, but otherwise it was an even growing season with few difficulties. Beringer’s 1994 Private Reserve came from four vineyard sites, Bancroft Ranch (47%), Tre Colline, and the balance from Chabot and St. Helena Home Vineyard. A stunning, seamless Cabernet Sauvignon, it boasts abundant notes of white chocolate, creme de cassis, woodsmoke, spice box, licorice and forest floor, superb concentration, a full-bodied mouthfeel, sweet, integrated tannin and admirable youthfulness as well as freshness. This is one of the most Bordeaux-like wines in this vertical, with the lead pencil shavings and scorched earth characteristics pointing toward a Graves style. This beauty will continue to drink well for another two decades. - Robert Parker, robertparker.com 2011