Leonetti Reserve 2002
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This wine may be remembered as one of the finest Leonetti has produced. The wine's aroma itself can hold one captive without ever taking a sip. The nose boasts incredible sweet fruit, cedar, plums, and cassis. The wine is very dense while being seamless and lasting on the palate long after the wine is swallowed. As always, Leonetti Reserve reflects the winery's efforts to produce a wine amongst the finest in the world. It is entirely estate grown and only produced in exceptional vintages -- blended in varying varietal percentages through diligent selection of individual barrels to produce the greatest wine possible.
Blend: 52% Cabernet Sauvignon, 31% Merlot, 17% Petit Verdot
Professional Ratings
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Wine Enthusiast
If any wine can elevate Leonetti's stunning Cabernet to yet another level, it is this astonishing blend of 52% Cabernet Sauvignon, 31% Merlot and 17% Petit Verdot, all from estate vineyards. Sweet plum, blueberry and blackberry fruits are seamlessly married to layers of different flavored chocolates. Silky and supple, it uses oak as a sensual enhancement, but the wood flavors of mocha, nuts, butter and toast are so beautifully smoothed into the fruit that they are never intrusive.
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Wine Spectator
Ripe, rich, mouthfilling stuff packs in enormous depth of dark plum, black cherry and tarry spice flavors, lingering against a touch of earth on the long, expansive finish. Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot and Petit Verdot.
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Vinous
The 2002 Red Wine Reserve is simply stunning, cascading up from the glass with a perfumed blend of dried cherries and spices complementing dusty rose and earth tones. This washes across the palate with the silkiest of textures, pliant and supple, with yet a tinge of sour citrus and tart wild berries that saturate, all motivated by brilliant acidity. The 2002 shows its minerality and mature state through the finish, tapering off with nuances of baked plum and inner earth tones. This is perfectly mature yet in no fear of decline.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The blackberry, spice, and tar aromas of the 2002 Reserve lead to a medium to full-bodied character. This 52% Cabernet Sauvignon, 31% Merlot, and 17% Petit Verdot assemblage regales the palate with cassis, black raspberry, and dark cherry flavors in a sweet, pure format before revealing a plethora of firm tannin in the finish.
Rating: 91+
Other Vintages
2019- Vinous
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One of the world’s most classic and popular styles of red wine, Bordeaux-inspired blends have spread from their homeland in France to nearly every corner of the New World. Typically based on either Cabernet Sauvignon or Merlot and supported by Cabernet Franc, Malbec and Petit Verdot, the best of these are densely hued, fragrant, full of fruit and boast a structure that begs for cellar time. Somm Secret—Blends from Bordeaux are generally earthier compared to those from the New World, which tend to be fruit-dominant.
Responsible for some of Washington’s most highly acclaimed wines, the Walla Walla Valley has experienced a surge in popularity in recent years and is home to both historic wineries and younger, up-and-coming producers.
The Walla Walla Valley, a Native American name meaning “many waters,” is located in southeastern Washington; part of the appellation actually extends into Oregon. Soils here are well-drained, sandy loess over Missoula Flood deposits and fractured basalt.
It is a region perfectly suited to Rhône-inspired Syrahs, distinguished by savory notes of red berry, black olive, smoke and fresh earth. Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot create a range of styles from smooth and supple to robust and well-structured. White varieties are rare but some producers blend Sauvignon Blanc with Sémillon, resulting in a rich and round style, and plantings of Viognier, while minimal, are often quite successful.
Of note within Walla Walla, is one new and very peculiar appellation, called the Rocks District of Milton-Freewater. This is the only AVA in the U.S. whose boundaries are totally defined by the soil type. Soils here look a bit like those in the acclaimed Rhône region of Chateauneuf-du-Pape, but are large, ancient, basalt cobblestones. These stones work in the same way as they do in Chateauneuf, absorbing and then radiating the sun's heat up to enhance the ripening of grape clusters. The Rocks District is within the part of Walla Walla that spills over into Oregon and naturally excels in the production of Rhône varieties like Syrah, as well as the Bordeaux varieties.