Estate
Reverie 2005 Estate Cabernet Franc (Diamond Mountain)
- Online Exclusive
- $60
There’s a fine wine in here, but it needs a little time for those pesky tannins to soften. They coat the mouth with astringency, making it hard to appreciate the fruit. But the fruit is there, in the form of pure, sweet cherries. It’s not a longterm ager, but a year or three in the cellar should make this soft, gentle wine more beautiful.
— S.H.
(4/1/2008)
Reverie 2009 Estate Cabernet Franc (Diamond Mountain)
- Online Exclusive
- $64
Cabernet Franc is a difficult variety to make by itself in California, which is why so few wineries do. Reverie gives it a good try. Their ’09 is quite tasty in cherries, minerals and oak, with distinguished mountain tannins and a savory, spicy finish. But it’s not one for the cellar, so drink before 2014.
— S.H.
(4/1/2012)
Reverie 2008 Estate Cabernet Franc (Diamond Mountain)
- Online Exclusive
- $60
Not clear that Cab Franc deserves a bottling on its own, as it’s better as a blending wine. That said, this is a pretty, polished red wine, full-bodied and dry in cherry, spice and oak flavors. Drink now and over the next five years.
— S.H.
(6/1/2011)
Reverie 2004 Estate Cabernet Sauvignon (Diamond Mountain)
- $60
Here’s a ripe, polished Cab, brimming in cherry, plum and new oak flavors. It’s soft and gentle enough for immediate drinking, although it has the structure for five or six years in the bottle.
— S.H.
(6/1/2007)
Reverie 2009 Estate Barbera (Diamond Mountain)
- Online Exclusive
- $52
It’s a wonder why Reverie makes Barbera, an inferior variety and a tough sell, but they do, so you have to pay attention. This ’09 is dry, big in tannins, acidic and rich in blackberry, raisin and mushu plum sauce flavors. It will probably live for decades, gradually sweetening but unlikely to ever achieve complexity.
— S.H.
(4/1/2012)
Reverie 2001 Estate Cabernet Franc (Diamond Mountain)
- $42
When Cab Franc succeeds in California, which is rare, it can be very good. When it doesn’t, it reminds you why in Bordeaux it’s usually a blending wine. This wine is pretty, but light, with earthy, meaty cherry and oak flavors, and is dry.
— S.H.
(7/1/2005)
Reverie 2007 Estate Merlot (Diamond Mountain)
- Online Exclusive
- $50
Super-tannic, one of those dry Napa red wines that makes you wonder why you opened it now. It’s just so tough and astringent, offering more pain than pleasure, which leads to the question, will it age? Well, there’s good cherry-blackberry fruit. But this is Merlot, not Cabernet. Risky.
— S.H.
(8/1/2010)
Reverie 2007 Estate Cabernet Franc (Diamond Mountain)
- Online Exclusive
- $60
Hard, tough in tannins, and unrewarding. There’s not enough cherry and currant fruit to break through the astringency and give you a reason to drink it.
— S.H.
(8/1/2010)
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