94
points
ZD 2008 Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon (Napa Valley)
- Cellar Selection
- Online Exclusive
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$125
Here’s one for the cellar. It’s an intense, massively concentrated wine, packed with blackberry, black currant, dark chocolate and crême de cassis flavors. If that sounds delicious, it is, and the tannins are as fine and complicated as Napa gets. So tasty now, you can drink it with a great steak, and should easily develop bottle complexity over the next 8–10 years…
— S.H.
(12/31/2011)
93
points
ZD NV Abacus IV Red (Napa Valley)
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$300
This solera-style wine blends the 1992–2001 Reserve Cabernets in a rich presentation. Leather, cedar, mint and a menagerie of ripe fruits tempt the nose, while the palate delivers with pepper encrusted meat, caramel, strawberries and cherries. This only hints at the elaborate sensory parade found in the glass, and the enduring impression this will surely leave…
— W.E.
(3/1/2003)
92
points
ZD 1998 Reserve Chardonnay (Napa Valley)
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$48
There’s plenty of ripe fruit in this 1998. An intense nose of coconut, jasmine, sweet pineapple, toasted marshmallow and cloves opens this lush beauty. A lovely, positive tension prevails in the mouth between tropical fruit flavors, pear, apple and citrus elements, all accented by intriguing spice notes. Finishes long, again relying on a fine tension between sweet…
— W.E.
(7/1/2001)
92
points
ZD 2007 Founder's Reserve Pinot Noir (Carneros)
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$65
Grown in the winery’s Carneros vineyard, this is a big, concentrated Pinot Noir. It’s powerful in fruit, tasting like fresh summer blackberries, with juicy acidity and smoky oak, yet with Pinot’s inherent silkiness. You’ll want to decant it, but it should hit its peak in two or three years.
— S.H.
(12/15/2009)
91
points
ZD 2001 Cabernet Sauvignon (Napa Valley)
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$40
What a lovely wine. You’ll miss its subtle charms if you’re just into power. It’s a delicately structured, feminine Cab, with currant, olive, herb and oaky flavors, and soft, gentle tannins. The kind of wine that lets the food star, while playing a supporting role.
— S.H.
(10/1/2004)
89
points
ZD 2009 Cabernet Sauvignon (Napa Valley)
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$55
Tastes immature now, with flashy, sweet blackberry, cherry and raspberry jam fruit flavors, and a rich coating of smoky oak. The tannins are complex and impressive. Not showing well now because it’s so direct, but it’s possible that six years in the cellar will begin to bring about secondary bottle character.
— S.H.
(12/31/2011)