This is a great Cabernet, blended with a drop of Petit Verdot. It shows the intensity of mountain fruit, with incredibly concentrated black currant and cassis flavors, with superb tannins. Few Cabernets have shown this degree of ageability. Drink now–2024  — S.H.

The 2010 Cabernet Sauvignon Reserve is already drinking remarkably well with abundant notes of creme de cassis, incense, licorice and spring flowers. Stunningly rich, full-bodied and built like a skyscraper, this wine is intense and full with velvety tannins and an overall impression of a voluptuous, opulent Cabernet Sauvignon to drink now and over the next 10-15 years. As always, this winery situated at the crest of Spring Mountain on both sides of the Napa/Sonoma counties boundary, has turned out a portfolio of interesting as well as satisfying wines. Amazingly, Pride Mountain Vineyards now owns over 85 acres at high elevation sites spread over the top of Spring Mountain. Pride Mountain’s two flagship offerings are much more limited in availability, with only 569 cases of the 2010 Claret Reserve and 1,365 cases of the 2010 Cabernet Sauvignon Reserve.

Medium-dark ruby; attractive, forward, intense, black cherry and dark berry fruit aroma with notes of cassis, tobacco, and sweet oak; full body; big, rich, dense, textured, cassis and dark berry fruit flavors with undertones of creamy oak; full tannin; lingering aftertaste. Deserves another five more years of bottle aging. Very highly recommended.

($135) Good medium ruby.  Cool, brooding aromas of cassis, licorice, leather, flowers, dusty brown spices and graphite minerality.  Dense and thick on entry, then wonderfully precise and animated in the middle; manages to be brooding and powerful yet also seamless and light on its feet.  A real essence of mountain berry flavor saturates the palate, with savory, almost peppery acidity carrying the fruit on the very long, vibrant back end.  This should gain in complexity with bottle aging.  (The superb 2009 bottling, which I again rated 94 points in March, is a plusher and sweeter wine that offers great immediate appeal.  But this 2010 should outclass it in the long run.)