The Napa Valley Reserve 2005

I must be honest with the circumstances around the tasting of this wine. Since tasting (and drinking) the outstanding 1997 Napa Valley Reserve, my friend (who is a member of the club) brought this bottle to a dinner two days later, and at that time I didn’t have my notebook with me. Also, the wine was tasted open, with all that comes with that, and the tasting notes were written in the morning the day after. The color is dark and dense, and the nose shows ripe and rich fruit, very lush and sweet but still elegant and complex with some (very well integrated) notes of cacao from the new French oak. On the palate, it reminds me very much about Harlan Estate, but I usual (yes, now I feel I’m entitled to say that) it doesn’t have the same intensity and silky texture. The Napa Valley Reserve has a slightly lighter body and therefore a more obvious tannic structure. However, there is nothing but the purest fruit and classic elegance to be found in the wine. This is again, a profound wine.

- Michel Jamais