June 9, 2021 - Stilll deep in color. Full bodied cabernet with lots of black fruits, licorice, and coffee. Nice complexity and a long finish. Definitely ready now
December 1, 2020 - Why have I been risking it & keeping this bottle for this long... apparently it was needing a special treat to help distract from COVID with a reserve blast from the past, a celebration of the past and blessings that Pride escaped serious fire damage recently. Opened with old school hand opener & cork came out whole. As with the previous caller tracker’s notes the initial aromas were rough after uncorking, which makes sense with it being in a bottle that long. Decanted hour and a half, the first taste was enjoyable. At 2 hours it opened up nicely & for me showed its character was still there. The wine enthusiast vertical tasting notes I found had me agreeing with lingering blackberry jam. Really enjoyed it, especially good with bbq fillet, a twice bake potato & some green haricot verts. Simple classic dinner with a timeless classic bottle of Pride Mountain Reserve Cabernet. Cheers
February 5, 2020 - Took a while for the funky aromas to calm down (think Major Peter’s Bloody Mary mix with loads of celery and Worcestershire) but mighty fine for a 26 year old. Posted photo. Drink up!
May 7, 2019 - 13% ABV. I let it breathe for 30 minutes then drank over the next 2.5 hours. Probably a year or two past its prime. Slight bricking. Chewy tannins, but acidity is higher than I prefer.
August 1, 2018 - Served alongside a 1994 Dunn Howell Mountain and the Pride showed well, quite similar in fact, just with a bit more vanilla and heat. The alcohol definitely tastes warmer than the label's modest 13%. Aging has help the wine. This Pride has emerged a balanced and complex Cabernet. Plenty of cherry and licorice, with a long finish of berries, tar, and dark fruits. Very nice with years to go.
July 14, 2017 - Tasted blind with several other 1994 Napa Cabs (Shafer Hillside Select, Dalla Valle Maya, Abreu Madrona Ranch). Bottle of sound provenance with fill level high into the neck. Opulent nose with primary notes of cherry, dark fruit, leather and currant. Secondary aromas included fruit jam, lees and cut wood. Tannins were well integrated and pleasant on the finish (40 sec). Structure was present for another 10+ years of prime drinking window. Scored highest of the group.
September 20, 2014 - Napa 1994 (@ JK): Beautiful bouquet with red and dark berries and bell pepper. On the palate a concentrated wine with cassis and blackberries and chocolate. Firm acidity and the tannin still has a good bite. Beautiful wine which lacks a bit in finesse maybe.
September 20, 2014 - 94 Napa: a 20-year retrospective @ my place (Netherlands): Hot wine, alcohol marks the finish. Very dense, concentrated and serious, lots of graphite, black and red fruit, acidic backbone peeks out. Somehow I felt that the structure of this wine was too loose, alcohol not integrated (yet), searching for balance, slightly tiresome. Good stuff, yes. But not very emotional nor extraordinary to me. Other were more positive. 91/100 (group scores 90-96)
August 28, 2014 - Some bricking evident in this deeply garnet, highly extracted wine. The only aroma is alcohol. It says 13% on the label, but it tastes much higher to me, more like 14.5% which would place it in line with Pride's later vintages. The alcohol comes through in the taste, it is a bit hot, but so does the copious fruit with flavors of uber-ripe blackberries, cherries, and anise along with some underlying coffee and suave tannins. This has good length and is well rounded. A fruit-forward lover of California fruit bombs would give this 95+. For me, it is unbalanced due to vinosity and overripe fruit. When Cabernet starts to taste like berries, they've gone too far. Why not just quaff Zinfandel? Ready to drink and needs about 20 minutes decanting.
March 4, 2014 - Licorice, coffee bean, smoke and jammy dark berries, big, rich and dense, with a dryness that was starting to appear in the end notes of the finish. I'd opt for drinking this sooner than later.