Top Rated 2005 Napa Cabernets

94(+?) points. Good full red-ruby. Highly complex nose melds black raspberry, minerals, milk chocolate, tobacco, licorice and brown spices. Wonderfully silky, sweet and broad; quite primary for a young Dominus vintage... more

94(+?) points. Good full red-ruby. Highly complex nose melds black raspberry, minerals, milk chocolate, tobacco, licorice and brown spices. Wonderfully silky, sweet and broad; quite primary for a young Dominus vintage but with subtle earth tones adding nuance. This has plenty of high-quality tannins but the wine’s buffering flesh gives it an impression of sweetness. One senses near-perfect ripeness here in the way the wine saturates the palate with flavor. Very suave and fine-grained wine that will almost certainly rank among the best half-dozen vintages of Dominus made to day. Incidentally, long-time winemaker Boris Champy has returned to his native France to make wine, and Ted Mostero, previously in charge of winemaking at Almaviva in Chile, is now in charge here.

95(+?) points. Good deep ruby. Pungent aromas of liqueur-like cassis and blackberry, violet, bitter chocolate and camphor; a real essence of cabernet sauvignon. Juicy, pure and penetrating, with a mouthwatering quality to... more

95(+?) points. Good deep ruby. Pungent aromas of liqueur-like cassis and blackberry, violet, bitter chocolate and camphor; a real essence of cabernet sauvignon. Juicy, pure and penetrating, with a mouthwatering quality to the crushed berry, violet and bitter chocolate flavors thanks to lively acidity and firm underlying minerality. This extremely young wine really coats the mouth with flavor. Began quite closed but showed increasing density and sweetness as it opened in the glass. The finish features superb palate-saturating tannins and an uncanny vibrating quality. A wonderfully aromatic wine that should improve in bottle for many years.

94 points. Good deep ruby. Black fruits, graphite, bitter chocolate and spices on the vibrant, quintessential cabernet nose. Sweet, lush and chewy, with terrific concentration to the flavors of blackcurrant, chocolate,... more

94 points. Good deep ruby. Black fruits, graphite, bitter chocolate and spices on the vibrant, quintessential cabernet nose. Sweet, lush and chewy, with terrific concentration to the flavors of blackcurrant, chocolate, mocha and minerals. Wonderfully full, sexy and deep for the vintage (“you’ll find a lot of thin, high-alcohol wines in 2005,” noted winemaker Mark Herold), but with lovely energy and lift at the same time. A firmly structured, ageworthy cabernet that finishes with big, broad tannins and excellent length. “It was a challenge to get our growers to drop crop in ’05 but it was necessary owing to the size of the flowering and the cool summer,” said Herold. “We picked into the beginning of November, and even then we decided to declassify the fruit that didn’t ripen properly.” A highly successful vintage for this bottling.

94 points. Saturated deep ruby. Deep, enticing aromas of black fruits, bitter chocolate and black cardamom. Lush and creamy-sweet, but with ripe, integrated acidity giving shape to the highly concentrated flavors of bl... more

94 points. Saturated deep ruby. Deep, enticing aromas of black fruits, bitter chocolate and black cardamom. Lush and creamy-sweet, but with ripe, integrated acidity giving shape to the highly concentrated flavors of blueberry, blackberry and dark chocolate. This outsized, dramatic cabernet is fat with fruit, but its seamless, velvety texture and sappy quality make it extremely easy to drink. Finishes lush and strong, with sweet tannins and palate-coating fruit.

95 points. Deep ruby-red. Blueberry and licorice aromas complicated by tobacco and flowers and lifted by spices. Sweet, dense and lively, with lovely spicy lightness to the flavors of plum, rose petal and tobacco. There's... more

95 points. Deep ruby-red. Blueberry and licorice aromas complicated by tobacco and flowers and lifted by spices. Sweet, dense and lively, with lovely spicy lightness to the flavors of plum, rose petal and tobacco. There's something almost Burgundian about the texture of this wine. This boasts terrific energy and length, finishing with sweet spices and flowers and substantial tongue-dusting tannins. Vineyard management expert David Abreu took over here in 2005 and has taken this wine to a higher level by getting more uniformity of ripeness from this site.

94 points. Good full ruby-red. Musky aromas of black raspberry, mocha, smoke and minerals. Suave and fine-grained, with an enticing creaminess of texture. The captivating flavors of raspberry, menthol and flowers carr... more

94 points. Good full ruby-red. Musky aromas of black raspberry, mocha, smoke and minerals. Suave and fine-grained, with an enticing creaminess of texture. The captivating flavors of raspberry, menthol and flowers carry into the very long, broad finish, which features wonderfully noble tannins.

95 points. Good full medium ruby. Knockout nose combines superripe black raspberry, minerals, tobacco and brown spices. Then wonderfully sweet and lush in the mouth, with an almost liqueur-like ripeness to the flavors ... more

95 points. Good full medium ruby. Knockout nose combines superripe black raspberry, minerals, tobacco and brown spices. Then wonderfully sweet and lush in the mouth, with an almost liqueur-like ripeness to the flavors of cassis, tobacco, chocolate, coffee and loam. As dense and thick as this is, though, it’s also quite suave and juicy. Finishes with palate-staining sweetness of fruit and outstanding breadth.