Napa Valley, California

Private Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon

 

Aromas of cassis, black cherry, cedar and dark chocolate transition to rich expressions of black fruit, vanilla and brown spices on the palate as ripe supple tannins linger throughout the extracted and long finish.

 

****Rated 90 Points by Wine Enthusiast:

Huge wine, young and tannic, almost bitter now and not offering much relief. But of course you don’t buy Beringer PR tonight. There is indeed enormous Cabernet flavor deep down inside, offering oodles of blackberries and cherries and charry new oak, but there’s also a warning note of prune. Best after 2008.

 

****Rated 88 Points by Wine Spectator:

Quite loamy and earthy, yet there's a savory richness, with dried currant, sage and cedary oak flavors. Excellent balance and persistence. Best from 2008 through 2012. 14,200 cases made.

 

****Rated 94 Points by Wine Advocate

The 2002 Cabernet Sauvignon Private Reserve may not equal the fabulous concentration and intensity of the 2001, but it’s not far off the mark. It is a fruit-forward, softer, more flamboyant, already seductive effort displaying gorgeous notes of chocolaty creme de cassis, some spicy, high-quality, toasty oak, a rich, plush, savory, expansive mid-palate, and a long, heady finish with elevated glycerin and plenty of sweet tannin and fruit. This wine is delicious yet promises to age gorgeously for 15-20 years. Ed Sbragia compares it to the 1992 which, by the way, is drinking superbly in 2005, but is one of those rare vintages that has never gone through a closed period. It’s always a fascinating education to taste through these component parts, but the resulting blend that Ed Sbragia puts together, the extraordinary Private Reserve, is one of the great Cabernet Sauvignons of California and he has fashioned a succession of beauties since 1991. In fact, there are two gorgeous ones in the market, the profound 2001 and the flamboyant, exotic 2002.