2002 Arrowood Cabernet Sauvignon Réserve Spéciale

Community Tasting Note

33 comments have been posted

• Comment posted by I'd Rather Be Drinking Wine:

  6/25/2021 9:53:00 PM - Arrowood makes some nice wines...under-rated for many years! Great old school Ca Cab!

• Comment posted by Decanting Queen:

  6/26/2021 3:58:00 AM - Nice!

• Comment posted by Mark1npt:

  6/26/2021 4:38:00 AM - IR......Richard was a heckuva winemaker. I was very sad to see him retire but he surely deserves it! I have never been disappointed with one of his aged reds.....Jen and I had an '87 last month that was in a great place!

• Comment posted by Mark1npt:

  6/26/2021 4:59:00 AM - Jen......I've got something even older for you.

• Comment posted by wine247365:

  6/26/2021 9:43:00 AM - Thanks for posting! My first taste of this was in 2015 and it pretty much blew me away then. Had to buy another two and after your TN I think I’ll let this gem continue to rest some more years. Adjusting my End Date now.

• Comment posted by Mark1npt:

  6/26/2021 10:57:00 AM - wine24.....if yours have been refrigerated and preserved well, there are decades ahead for this one.....barely in it's secondary phase yet. I recently had an '87 of his, just his basic cab, not the Reserve Speciale and it was absolutely beautiful. Only his second year making his own cabs under his own label. I could not have asked for more and I believe that particular bottle may have lasted another 5-10 years, maybe. What did his basic cab cost in '87? $8 bucks? Ridiculously good! Cheers!

• Comment posted by wine247365:

  6/26/2021 11:30:00 AM - That's insane! My experience in '15 led me to join their club, which I just recently quit and on one of my visits there I bought a couple of bottles from '02, '05, 07, and '13 since the provenance was unquestionable. I really liked how they offered up such a great library selection. Unfortunately, last year I popped one of the '02s but due to the lively setting wasn't able to pay any attention to it, so my thoughts of it were not as strong relative to my love for that first '02 bottle. After reading your TN thought, I'll be sure to open this last one in the proper setting. And after reading about that '87, maybe I'll push my end date out to 2035 as a challenge to myself to hold off until at least halfway there. Cheers!

• Comment posted by Mark1npt:

  6/26/2021 9:26:00 PM - Just an fyi....Richard Arrowood sold the winery in '01 but stayed on as winemaker with the '05 vintage being his last. The people he sold to ran into trouble, I think in '03 and eventually the Kendall Jackson group bought it out and have had it ever since. In '05 Richard started his new venture Amapola Creek Winery which he ran til '19 before selling it all to his neighbor the B Wise Winery.

• Comment posted by I'd Rather Be Drinking Wine:

  6/26/2021 10:11:00 PM - Not familiar with ACW wines....have you ever had them?

• Comment posted by Mark1npt:

  6/27/2021 4:11:00 AM - IR......I was a member for many years. Been drinking them for a decade or more. Nice chards, GSM, zins especially good and of course cabs. His '13 cab currently needs an 18 hour decant. I've loaded up on his '16s being liquidated around the country, once $115 a bottle now $39. They will drink like old school Cali cabs for the next 25 years!

• Comment posted by I'd Rather Be Drinking Wine:

  6/27/2021 6:45:00 AM - WOW....I will need to keep an eye out for them!

• Comment posted by Mark1npt:

  6/27/2021 7:12:00 AM - Pull them up on CT, then click on winesearcher. You'll see a few different vintages around the country for sale.

• Comment posted by I'd Rather Be Drinking Wine:

  6/27/2021 7:50:00 AM - Been there....done that! Found two bottles of 2015 at $55...already ordered them....something to live for now. :)

• Comment posted by Mark1npt:

  6/27/2021 9:45:00 AM - Lol......see if you can find some '13s and '16s, too!

• Comment posted by sfwinelover1:

  7/1/2021 9:12:00 AM - Completely agree with you on this bottling, and the Arrowood regular cab as well, and Dick Arrowood's wines generally. At least some of the Sonoma cabs, Laurel Glen and Verite jump out at me immediately, are far better with at least 10+ bottle age than younger, I think because they tend toward higher acidity/lower alcohol than many of their Napa counterparts. Even though Arrowood has retired, it's nice to know his wines will live on far longer.

• Comment posted by Mark1npt:

  7/1/2021 11:23:00 AM - sf...yes, Verite stands out but it's also 5x-10x the price! These Arrowoods just remind me so much of old Napa/Sonoma, before all the moeny, all the glory. I got this for $70.....and new, it was what, probably $20-30? What a steal.

• Comment posted by I'd Rather Be Drinking Wine:

  7/1/2021 11:36:00 AM - Mark....not that much of a steal! $25 to $70 in almost 20 years is not that bad (and a good, but not great, return on your investment). However, at least you would known how it was stored! I would bet a lot of the wines you have bought on release will show equally good returns when they are 20 years old! 😉

• Comment posted by Mark1npt:

  7/1/2021 11:51:00 AM - IR......I'm not so sure about some of these big modern Napa reds. I have a hard time believing this big fruit and high alc can age like an Arrowood or an old Montelena......I'm planning on drinking plenty of them over the next 10 years, whether I have some left over to experiment with, who knows?

• Comment posted by I'd Rather Be Drinking Wine:

  7/1/2021 1:22:00 PM - I am not sure either, but I know for sure Harlan ages well, and I am hopeful some of the other wines will age well too. Maybe I have made a mistake waiting on some of these big CA wines, such as Carter, Schrader and Dana? Guess I will find out! Of course, I am not planning on holding them for 20 years (and will likely start popping them open around 10 - 15 years old). Time will tell if I was being stupid!

• Comment posted by Mark1npt:

  7/1/2021 2:37:00 PM - No dude! Schrader and Dana will be fine....not sure about Carter. I had a '10 last year that just wasn't all that great. Was way better way younger...............I think the Smith wines need to be drunk from years 2-8. Yackman and some others on here also think that, too.

• Comment posted by sfwinelover1:

  7/1/2021 2:59:00 PM - Although I haven't been fortunate enough to drink any Schraders or Danas, I'm inclined to think Mark is right on Schrader from having some older (though not 20 years) high end TRB wines. The only Carter I had was a '14 Fortuna, which was recent, and I thought it had the structure to go at least several more years in good order. The other Mike Smith wines I've had--Myriads, Becklyn and Scarlett--all struck me as early drinkers due to an almost total lack of acidity and light tannins (which, along with low to moderate abv, tend to be the things most likely for a good wine to have ageability, IMO).

• Comment posted by Mark1npt:

  7/1/2021 3:28:00 PM - ....and sf, the Dana's are even more classically made. I have zero doubt they would go for 20+ years.

• Comment posted by sfwinelover1:

  7/1/2021 3:59:00 PM - I have that sense. Although they're right at the high end, other than the Onda, of what I'd pay for a bottle of wine, several of their bottlings are right up on my wine bucket list.

• Comment posted by sfwinelover1:

  7/1/2021 4:03:00 PM - Also, Mark, I think you might like Laurel Glen. Their wines do take some time to develop, but if you can give them that, or a ton of air, I think they're super compelling for their prices. Another Sonoma cab on my short list of wines to try is Cornell. My friend and occasional wine drinking compadre Aaron_Maxwell calls it a baby Verite.

• Comment posted by Mark1npt:

  7/1/2021 4:12:00 PM - Lol....I've got some Cornell, a few bottles. I am a fan of the winemaker Francoise Peschon, who makes VHR, Drinkward Peschon, etc........haven't tried it yet however. I will look for Laurel Glen, thanks pal!

• Comment posted by sfwinelover1:

  7/1/2021 4:17:00 PM - For sure! Drinkward Peschon is also on my list--thankfully cheaper than either Dana or Cornell--and I didn't realize that she was the winemaker at VHR (I picked up a couple of relatively priced bottles through mjp and LioF from their Houston wine guy), am really looking forward to trying that, which also sounds like it's more structured than a "modern" Napa cab. Along similar lines, have you had Carte Blanche? I picked up a couple of those recently and have the sense that bottling is in the sweet spot for a good mix of fruit and structure.

• Comment posted by I'd Rather Be Drinking Wine:

  7/1/2021 4:26:00 PM - I had a 2007 Dana Lotus a while back....it was good, but not a 100 point wine...also had a hard time gauging if it would improve with more age, or if it was declining. It pretty much held its ground the whole time we were drinking it. That's the only Single Vineyard Dana I have had. I am hoping they age well, but you never know!
  
  I think Schrader will age okay too....had a 14 RBS a while back a friend opened and it was way to tight....never really had a chance to shine (he PnP). Other than that, I have not had one. I did trade for a 13 Old Sparky, but that will be a while before its is ready or I even consider opening one.
  
  In the meantime, I think I have 1 Dunn HM (84), 1 Montelena (94), 1 Shafer (02) and 2 Spottswoods (04. 05)...rest are 2009 or more recent for CA Cabs. All my more expensive cabs are 2012 or more recent. (Of course, I prefer Bordeaux blends, so I have a few aged ones of those, even the US Bordeaux Blends, e.g., Harlan, Insignia, Monte Bello...etc. Hopefully, enough to hold me over until more recent vintages start peaking!
  
  BTW...always looking for an excuse to pop a bottle...let me know if you are ever in the area (Twin Cities, MN)!

• Comment posted by I'd Rather Be Drinking Wine:

  7/1/2021 4:30:00 PM - Thanks! You guys make me feel so so so out of the loop! I am not familiar with some of those wines or winemakers! So much to still learn (although I am trying not to buy more wines!)

• Comment posted by Mark1npt:

  7/1/2021 4:33:00 PM - sf......Keplinger makes the CBlanche.....I would say that she and Francoise are more classic and more talented in their winemaking than most in Napa. I have no worries about the aging of their bottles. They are THAT good.

• Comment posted by Mark1npt:

  7/1/2021 4:35:00 PM - IR, you are holding great stuff and you like BDX, so you know what to expect. You will do fine! Your wines will do fine, too!

• Comment posted by Mark1npt:

  7/1/2021 4:36:00 PM - IR, the learning never stops. No age. No time.....we are always trying to get better, right?

• Comment posted by sfwinelover1:

  7/1/2021 9:05:00 PM - IRDW, you’re far from out of the loop; the wines you mention are outstanding! Since my sis finished her Ph.D. Program at UM in the mid 90s, I haven’t been to the Twin Cities, but your cellar would be a great incentive if I were close. Reciprocally, I’m in SF, likewise love opening great bottles for wine cognoscenti, so if you’re in my environs, please let me know!

• Comment posted by I'd Rather Be Drinking Wine:

  7/1/2021 9:24:00 PM - Thanks sfwl! I hope to make it to Napa sometime this year (while I still get into a few wineries), but the best laid plans.....I appreciate the offer! Must be nice being so close to so much great wine!