Reserve St. Helena Cabernet Sauvignon

After hearing of this for a while, I grabbed one of these a while back and decided to open as 2014 Napa cabs are generally pretty open knit right now. Great pedigree as the fruit was formerly sold to Harlan. Winemaker is TRB. This is their reserve bottle, which is a barrel select of their estate.

Sure does seem to have TRB’s signature style all through this wine, as I feel he has an amazing ability to pull the entire fruit spectrum (in terms of light red all the way to dark black) for Cabernet in the right sites. Right after opening, it filled the air with a lifted fruit profile...high toned dark chocolate dipped blackberries, blueberries, and baking spices like nutmeg, alongside floral violet notes. It’s rich on the palate without being flabby or too fruit forward. The darker fruits translate over...beautiful black cherries, but mostly ripe blueberries and freshly squeezed blackberries, followed by dark cocoa, espresso, toasted oak. Really nice acidity and fine grained tannins on the finish. Still youthful, but this can be enjoyed now with a couple hour decant.

Wow! EHT a nose! Soft but a big mouth feel. Cooked plums and red berries back end rolling tannins goes on and on Thomas is a genius

One I the nose, soft, ripe; blackberries, dark cherries, plum, mulberries, black raspberries, blueberries & poached strawberries. Liqueur notes, dark chocolate, caramel, vanilla, light cinnamon & clove, dry crushed limestone minerals, suede leather and red flowers, lavender and violets.

The body is full. The tannins much softer & rounder than when I had it a year ago. More harmony in the structure, tension, length and balance but still a long ways from opening a bottle. Ripe; blackberries, dark cherries, plum, mulberries, black raspberries, blueberries, poached strawberries, dark chocolate, caramel, vanilla, light cinnamon & clove, soft dark spice, dark moist turned soil, dry stems, dry crushed limestone minerals, dry stones, dry herbs, suede leather and red flowers, lavender and violets. The acidity lively and like a waterfall. The ripe finish is well structured/balanced, elegant and lasts two minutes.

Photos of; their Estate vines, guests enjoying the party & property and an arial architectural drawing of the Winery they are planning to build.

I’ve just started to sample some of the ‘14 North Coast CA Cabs and this reigns supreme so far for me. Still a smidge backward but a noticeably unique brightness and punch. More red fruit than black and while still quite tannic it continued to shed and evolve throughout the night. Exceptional. Thank you to the mayor of West Palm @Martin G Rivard

From nose to tail, this is stunning. Baked blueberry pie and coffee on the nose. Refined palate presents with huge complexity. Lovely oak treatment blends seamlessly with cinnamon, and fine-grained tannins. Acidity is in perfect harmony with the other components. Finishes with molasses. This is plush and dense, and lives up to the billing of a reserve.
@Martin G Rivard thank you no longer seems enough for such gems. Love you, man.
This improves as it sees more air. We may have under clubbed our score.

I don’t want to be like Mike, I want to be like Paul. Just off the truck, an assorted three-pack of Sodhani...13 Estate, 14 Estate & Reserve. Great pop & pour in about 10 years plus. 9.6 average on all three wines.

What a special amazing brand new wine -!everything to love - I am going there in April - can't wait - this is even better because my man and friend @Martin G Rivard gifted this bad boy - thank you sir - all smiles tonight

Closing out the birthday weekend on a high note thanks to my man @Martin G Rivard ! This wine is amazing. I almost feel guilty having opened it so young but I needed to try this. Decanted and checked in over three and a half hours - at which point the wine really amazed me. The nose is intoxicating with aromas of stewed dark fruit - blackberries, black cherries, strawberry jam - with some nice floral notes. The palate is amazing - silky smooth entry just bursting with fruits that mimic the nose - blackberry, strawberry, and more dark cherries - baking spices and notes of minerals. Layered and complex. Incredibly long finish. The tannins were really strong initially so this benefited from the long decant. Just a beautiful and elegant wine. Wowzah.

On the nose; deep, dark currants/cassis, blackberries, dark cherries, black raspberries, black plum, strawberries and hues of blue fruits, purple, perfumed florals, dark chocolate, caramel, nicely layered baking spices, spice, fresh & dry red florals and violets. The body is full with firm tannins. The fruits are ripe and gorgeous. Dark currants, blackberries, dark cherries, black raspberries, black plum, strawberries and hues of blue fruits. Cinnamon, clove, dark spices, new leather, cedar, graphite, loamy dry soils, dry crushed rocks and beautiful, fresh & dry red floral with violets. The structure, tension, length are still big & profound. The balanced finish is very nice and will show incredible beauty & elegance with 10 plus years in bottle. This is absolutely not a wine to drink young. Photos of; their dogs who are best friend and very playful. They also couldn’t take their eyes off our selection of cheeses. Their Winemaker Thomas River Brown, who has made at least 8 💯 point wines and their vineyard view sitting on the house patio.

Come visit next time your in town. You won’t be disappointed. Cheers