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Reserve Cabernet

The term Reserve is applied to wines that winemakers have held back for longer aging or in some other way made special.  The term is applied to the best of the best.

When you see reserve printed on a wine label, you know that you are looking at a bottle of the best of the best. The most common place you will see a bottle of reserve, is in the red wine category. Most white wines do not benefit from aging as red wines do, and that is why you will see the reserve designation less on white wines than you will on red.

Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon So what would it take to have a bottle of wine designated as a Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon? For the most part, this is actually a legal designation, and there are certain guidelines that a winemaker must follow to be able to print reserve on his or her label. Just as there are legal guidelines that must be met in order to print the varietal on the wine label(at least 75%), the vintage(year the wine was bottled), or the area where the grapes were grown(legal designation, such as Ruthorford, or Chianti), there are also guidelines that need to be met before reserve goes on the label.

From the finest Cabernet Vineyards

In order for reserve to go on the label the wine inside the bottle must be in some way special. It could be that the Vineyard has a area that produces finer grapes than the rest of the vineyard for whatever reason. Perhaps the drainage is better, or perhaps they get afternoon sun instead of morning sun. If the grapes used in making the wine are the best of the best then reserve can go on the label.

Fine Red Wine

Another reason that reserve could go on the label, is because the Vineyard had an exceptional growing year. If the winemaker believes that the vintage is going to be exceptional,he or she can set that wine aside as a reserve. It could be that when the winemaker brought the crop in, he hand-picked the finest of the grapes and set them aside for his reserve wine. Or perhaps the winemaker will age his reserve wine for a longer period of time than his normal wine. Or perhaps he ages it longer in the oak. Again, most of these situations only apply to fine red wines, not the fine white wines, simply because white wines do not age as well as red wines do. That is not to say the white wines will never be aged, it is just not as common.

So what does a reserve wine mean for you? For you it means that you will have a higher quality of wine. By choosing a higher quality of grape, or by choosing a longer aging time, a winemaker creates an extra special bottling. A Cabernet Sauvignon ages well and if the winemaker know his business, a Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon will be a finer tasting bottle of wine than a normal vintage wine.

 

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United States Reserve Wines

While the term "Reserve" appearing on the label of any vintage dated, varietal label wine produced in the United States should indicate that it is a wine made from the best of the best, unfortunately it is sometimes used unscrupulously by winemakers who use the term loosely, including putting it on the label of the cheapest winds churned out in mass quantities.  I think most winemakers in the United States do not fall into this category, but it is something you should be on the lookout for.

Legally speaking, for the term "Reserve" to be on a label it needs to be a wine that is produced from the grapes grown in the best vineyards, that has aged longer in the best oak cask, or has some other special attributes. Bottom line, if you're going to spend extra money on a reserve wine, you should probably know your vineyard.
 

Greece Reserve Wines

In Greece the terms "Reserve" on AOC wines carry a legal responsibility to age wines longer. White wines are aged for a minimum of two years for reserve, three years for grand reserve, and the reds must be aged for an extra year for those designations. So a red reserve would be aged for a minimum of three years and a red grand reserve would be aged  for a minimum of four years.
 

Chile Reserve Wines

While in Chile the terms are a little bit different, with Especial instead of Reserve, you know the wine has been aged for a minimum of two years, and Reserva meaning that it has been aged for at least four years. For something really special, on Chilean wines, you might try to find the term Gran Vino, meaning the wine has been aged for a minimum of six years. If you're looking into buying  Chilean wines, make sure you do not fall for the term Reserva Especial, that is only a marketing phrase with no legal meaning.
 

Spain Reserve Wines

In Spain some terms that would indicate the reserve specialty of the wine, might include Crianza, indicating the wine has aged for a minimum of two years, including at least six months in a small oak cask, with the regions of Rioja, Ribera del Duero, and Navarro wines having a minimum of a year in oak.

Reserva are red wines that have been aged at least three years, including one year in the barrel. Producers of the finest red wine from Spain will always exceed the minimum age requirements. White reserva wines aged at least two years are very rare. 

Gran Reserva is a term that you will most likely not see very often. They are made only from exceptional vintages, and they are red wines that have been aged at least five years, with two of those years being in the barrel. Some of the finest red wines in this category may not even appear on the market for 8 to 10 years. White Gran reserva wines are rare and must be aged a minimum of four years.

So the short and the long of a wine designated as reserve, is that it has some type a special quality. It could be that the grapes are picked from the choicest vineyards, or perhaps the vineyard had an exceptional growing year. It could even be that from the normal Vineyard, the choicest grapes were held back for a special batch of reserve wine. Whatever the reason, reserve wines are the cream of the crop.

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