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Manage Subscriptions1994 Beringer Vineyards Cabernet Sauvignon Private Reserve
Cabernet Sauvignon
- USA
- California
- Napa Valley
Community Tasting Notes 238
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DrBad Likes this wine: 95 points
December 23, 2023 - Enjoyed for our family holiday dinner with prime rib along with a 2009 Chateau Canon. Decanted for sediment about 30 minutes, forgot my ah so but cork still came out cleanly with a corkscrew, soaked through but in good shape. Similar notes to OG-WINO and other positive reviews over the last year. The wine is in a great place with a mix of nearly 30 y/o aged character while still retaining interesting blue and black fruits. Slight bricking color with tobacco, cedar, leather and wet earth aromas. A real pleasure to drink and a great example of well aged Napa Cab.
1 person found this helpful Comment -
garymouton wrote: 93 points
December 2, 2023 - I think the og-wino note from June is quite accurate. My bottle had no bricking (really); my wife guessed a 10-15yo wine blind and I would have guessed the same. For my bottle (with 2h slo-ox), more dark primary fruit and less secondary notes. I did not notice dramatic changes in the glass. My bottles are in great condition; for me this is a wine that can last 10 years, and I am anxious to see if I begin to notice the secondary characteristics that Parker and some of the tasters here have noted.
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Esmags7 Likes this wine: 95 points
October 7, 2023 - Cork was garbage but got it out and filtered the rest. Lots of sediment (of course).
Let it sit for 75 min and drank for next 2.5 hours.
Optimal drinking window is small but in that 90 minutes or so it was outrageous - all the complexity you want from a quality 30 year old wine.
Does have that thick, unctuous mouthfeel that I’ve noticed with Beringer PR, but just an amazing bottle. Paired with rack of lamb. -
seijaro Likes this wine: 94 points
August 25, 2023 - Some browning and a lot of sediment but still very much alive. A dark and heavy character with some tar, but quite flavorful. We enjoyed this grand old Napa royalty.
I always feel a bit of irritation for Beringer... in about 1996 or 7 I went looking for big bottles of the highly touted 1994 Napa vintage. When I called Beringer the girl said their computer showed 20 Double Mags of the Reserve at $225 a pop. Wow! I said I would take them all (we had a group at work who loved these things). She gasped and said she would have to get the Sales Manager. He got on the phone and I repeated that I wanted to buy the DMs of '94 Reserve. He hesitated and then said, "It's only one to a customer." I said, "OK, I'll give you a list of 20 buyers and 20 credit cards." He thought for a minute and then replied, "They have to be picked up at the winery by the buyers." I said "I get it, F-U" and hung up. Never bought another Beringer. -
Elkcims Likes this wine: 95 points
June 14, 2023 - Similar notes as Og-Wino a few days ago. Decanted 1 hour, tobacco, cedar, wet earth, iron, . Soft and complex, it is drinking great now - still showing some structure with mostly integrated tannins, but I don't see a point in aging it any longer.
Pro Reviews 5
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By Stephen Tanzer
Beringer’s Private Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon: One of Napa Valley’s First Cult Wines (Jul 2015), 7/1/2015 (link)(Beringer Vineyards Cabernet Sauvignon Private Reserve Napa Valley) Subscribe to see review text.
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By Stephen Tanzer
Horizontal Tasting of Napa Valley’s 1994 Cabernets (Jul 2015), 3/1/2015 (link)(Beringer Vineyards Cabernet Sauvignon Private Reserve Napa Valley) Subscribe to see review text.
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By Stephen Tanzer
May/June 1998, IWC Issue #78 (link)(Beringer Vineyards Cabernet Sauvignon Private Reserve Napa Valley) Subscribe to see review text.
RJonWine.com
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By Richard Jennings
4/16/2009 (link) 83 points(Beringer Vineyards Cabernet Sauvignon Private Reserve) Group's #8 (my #8) – 85 pts.; 0, 1, 3, 7 – dark magenta color; musty, moldy nose that largely blows off, after 45 minutes in the glass, to reveal a tart black fruit nose; tart, berry and charcoal palate; short finish
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By Richard Jennings
5/25/2003 (link) 95 points(Beringer Vineyards Cabernet Sauvignon Private Reserve) 1994 Cali Cabs Blindtasted (Screaming Eagle, Harlan, Bryant, Araujo, Abreu, Shafer HS) (Skirball Center, Los Angeles, California): Blackberry, menthol nose; nice attack, concentrated, blackberry palate; long finish
Wine Definition
- Vintage 1994
- Type Red
- Producer Beringer Vineyards
- Varietal Cabernet Sauvignon
- Designation Private Reserve
- Vineyard n/a
- Country USA
- Region California
- SubRegion Napa Valley
- Appellation Napa Valley
- UPC Codes 000005698275, 000005698276, 087000337695, 089819001804, 500000004140
Community Holdings
- Pending Delivery 131 (3%)
- In Cellars 2,064 (52%)
- Consumed 1,758 (44%)
Food Pairing
Who Likes This Wine
More About This Wine
Articles
- ProducerBeringer Vineyards
- VarietyCabernet Sauvignon
- CountryUSA
- RegionCalifornia
- SubRegionNapa Valley
- AppellationNapa Valley
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- VarietalCabernet Sauvignon
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- CountryUSA
- RegionCalifornia
- SubRegionNapa Valley
- AppellationNapa Valley