- 1995 Beringer Vineyards Cabernet Sauvignon Private Reserve - USA, California, Napa Valley (3/5/2024)
From my dad’s Virginia cellar, he bought this on release in Massachusetts. It accompanied my parents moving to a Virginia, and last year back north to Connecticut to my cellar. Well traveled, but the wine is excellent. Hard to believe it’s almost 30 years old. It’s in a zone where the lingering fruit and aged bottle sweetness come together and amplify the wine. Ninety minutes after opening it’s even fresher than it was on opening, making me very glad to have another bottle. What is surprising is that there’s not a lot of aged character at this age. It’s not a full-fruited on release bruiser, but it hasn’t settled into retirement either. Probably another ten years or more to enjoy its evolution.
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Those Beringer wines have a special place in my(and wife) heart! 87 is the wine that hooked me! 
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I always liked those wines, glad to hear it’s going strong.
Nice note David…I have a perfectly cellared 94 that I have been wanting to open for a while…you inspired me…
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Every night is “open that bottle night.”
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Napa from 94 to 97 was a great run - lots of great wines!
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1991-1993 didn’t suck either. I know 1993 got a bad rap, but it’s an overlooked gem IMO.
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My thought was more related to large impressive 94 and 97 vintages and how they kind of overshadowed 95 and 96 which were excellent in their own right. I remember having a few bottles of 96 Mondavi Reserve that were quite nice.
I remain a huge Beringer fan. Not sure how some of the “big” recent PR’s are going to age, but the track record is good. Some of the SV’s are delicious earlier than the PR. And their half-off sales can provide some great values from the bottom to the top of the cabernet portfolio.
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Ah. That makes sense. I opened a ‘96 Beringer PR Cab last year that was as good or even better than this ‘95.
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The 92 was the major hit at the 6/15/2002 Wine Spectator offline in Manhattan
Ed Sbragia made some stunning wines at Beringer. He may be the only winemaker with both a red and a white as WS Wine of the Year.
Nice to know how wonderfully the 95 PR has developed over time, nice note. Cudos to Ed and Beringer.
There are some mid 80s PRs in my cellar, 1984-87 were another excellent run for Beringer. The 86s are about to fulfill their destiny.
We had the 1991 this past weekend, and our impressions were very similar:
3/2/2024 - I LIKE THIS WINE: 94 points
Jura wine dinner, with Michael M. and Susan: A generous offering from Michael. I had worried, unnecessarily, that the Jura wines would prove too weird for the non-geeks at the table, so we interpolated this bottle, between the chicken and the cheese. Slightly gamy, meaty aroma, with blackberries and leather. Intensely focused blackberry flavor, fine tannins, beautifully integrated acidity, with graphite and cedar on the aftertaste. The dark fruit is all there, but with lots of structure and no sweetness. Full body but no heaviness, and with an alcohol level (13.3%) that allows a sense of freshness. Completely drinkable now, but possibly still in the early stages – a young adult. Very popular at our table.
Yep, those Sbragia Beringer Private Reserve Cabs from '84 through the 90’s were terrific on release and have aged beautifully. A pure Cali Cab expression. Always enjoy when I open one. Glad the '95 showed well.
The Sbragia Chards from back in the day were great as well…
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