TASTING NOTES:
A selection of the best lots from the winery's Oakville estate, aged in 100% new oak, Groth's 2021 Cabernet Sauvignon Reserve is a great wine at a realistic—for Napa Valley—price. Textbook notes of cedar and vanilla gently cosset black cherries and hints of dried herbs. It's full-bodied, creamy and lush in texture, showing more concentration, tannin and length than the winery's regular Oakville Cabernet.
-Wine Advocate, 95 pts.
Ripe and with a bit of flash thanks to its glossy toast, this red delivers a violet-accented core of cassis and plum reduction, with black licorice, sweet tobacco and singed alder notes. Solid and steady through the lengthy, polished finish, with a hint of flinty minerality lurking in the background. Drink now through 2040.
-Wine Spectator, 95 pts.
A much smaller production release, the 2021 Cabernet Sauvignon Reserve checks in as 98% Cabernet Sauvignon and 2% Merlot that was brought up all in new barrels. Its dense purple hue is followed by a ripe, concentrated, medium to full-bodied wine with lots of blackcurrant and plum fruit, some smoky herb, graphite, and chocolate notes, ripe, focusing tannins, and good mid-palate depth. As with many 2021s, the cellar will be your friend. Give bottles 2-4 years and enjoy over the following two decades.
-Jeb Dunnuck, 94 pts.
Refined, textured and harmonious, with controlled power and poise throughout. It’s full-bodied with fine tannins and a velvety texture on the center palate. Subtle aromas of dark cherries, blackberries, raw chocolate, dried thyme, pebbles and baking spices mingle on the nose. Velvety, restrained and polished in the long finish. Try from 2025.
-James Suckling, 95 pts.
