The dense ruby-hued 2005 Cabernet Sauvignon Estate boasts a sweet nose of incense, toast, charcoal, and red as well as black fruits. Elegant with a first class Bordeaux-like structure, moderate tannin, and outstanding purity and length, it will benefit from 2-4 years of bottle age, and should drink well for 15-20. Bright, saturated ruby-red. Aromas of dark cherry, dark berries, tobacco, brown spices and woodsmoke, lifted by a whiff of mint. Juicy, sappy and nicely concentrated, with good density to the slightly exotic flavors of currant, tobacco and smoke. A solidly structured cabernet that finished with firm tannic spine. Mount Eden makes their Estate Cab the old-fashioned way: to age. The ’05 is quite tannic and shut down right now, with a hard astringency, especially on the finish. However, it’s rich in black currents, mocha and cedar, and is a natural for many years in the cellar. The score could rise considerably after 2011.—S.H.Robert Parker Jr's The Wine Advocate
Steve Tanzer’s International Wine Cellar
Cellar Selection Wine Enthusiast Magazine
Release Date: Fall 2008
As with all of our estate wines in 2005, the Cabernet Sauvignon crop was tiny. On a positive note, the growing season was superb. A late October harvest gave us a wealth of “hang time” which for this wine is everything.
The color is notable, red on the edge, totally saturated in the middle. Primary Cabernet fruit aromas lead to graphite, currant and mineral flavors with amazing buoyancy. Firm tannins with immense concentration and bright acidity give the impression of greatness to come.
2005 is a special year. You can expect drinking pleasure for decades to come.
