2004 Arrowood "Reserve Speciale" Sonoma Valley Cabernet Sauvignon (DO NOT USE, use sku 1077495 instead)

95 points from Robert Parker: "The age worthiness and brilliant quality of Dick Arrowood's Reserve Speciale Cabernet Sauvignon is reflected time and time again in blind tastings when it is inserted against Napa's finest. Recently, the 1995 acquitted itself at the top of the group in a tasting of some of the very best 1995s from Napa. This is a sensational wine that is blended from different top vineyard sources in Sonoma Valley. The 2004 Cabernet Sauvignon Reserve Speciale, which spent 30 months in oak before being bottled unfiltered, has a deep ruby/purple color and a gorgeous nose of cedar, crushed rocks, black cherry, and cassis, with some licorice and roasted herbs. The wine has fabulous intensity, a full-bodied, opulent palate, ripe tannin, and a long 50-second finish. Arrowood made just under 2,100 cases of this superb wine, and for the price, it is a relatively good value in high-end northern California Cabernet. This wine should drink well for 10-20+ years." (12/07) 90 points from Stephen Tanzer's International Wine Cellar: "Inky ruby. Mineral-dominated bouquet offers smoky red- and blackcurrant, dark cherry, iron and raw meat; smells like a Graves. Deep, rich and powerful, offering chewy dark berry and bitter cherry flavors and finishing with firm tannic grip. A medium-bodied, intensely flavored wine with very good finishing lift and persistence. This is very nicely balanced." (May/Jun 08)