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| Robert Mondavi Reserve Cabernets: A Vertical Tasting |
Tuesday April 23, 2002
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Speaker: Marci Mondavi Borger, Member, Board of Directors, Robert Mondavi Winery
If Robert Mondavi is not the best winery in California, it is certainly the best known. This was a tasting of 12 vintages of Napa's quintessential Cabernet. It was apparent that Ms. Mondavi wants to share her family's wine with people. She embraced the task of fairly assessing and evaluating the wines, rather than blindly promoting by insisting on qualities that were not there. It was a wonderful tasting - besides the wines! Wines are listed in the order of presentation. The 22 attendees were asked to vote for their favorite wine in flight II and their two favorites in flight III. Since the wines were purchased at auction, prices are not listed. Notes are a combination of the speaker's and Kim Ginsberg's. Ms. Ginsberg is a wine consultant and a New York City based wine educator
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| Flight I: Aperitif |
Votes |
Full Retail $ |
1999 Mondavi Fume Blanc Reserve
This is the wine that was "invented" by Robert Mondavi. Years ago Mr. Mondavi came up with a style of wine and marketing strategy for a surplus of Sauvignon Blanc grapes. He looked to Bordeaux for a blend with Semillon and to the Loire for its name, instead of Pouilly-fume, he decided on "fume blanc." This wine is made from a blend of old vines (over 50 years old) and new vines in his prized To-Kalon vineyard. The wine is made from whole-cluster pressings fermented in oak and aged sur lie in barrel. 6% Semillon is added during aging. In my opinion, the wine was a bit dull, the brightness squashed by oak. It lacked the crispness of a Sancerre and
seems a bit pricy.
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N/A |
$25.00 |
| Flight II: Older Private Reserve Cabernets |
1971
This is the winery's first "reserve" designated wine. Previously, it was just labeled "unfined and unfiltered." The blend is 60% Cabernet Sauvignon and 40% Cabernet Franc. Ms. Mondavi explained that the harvest was in September and October, affording the grapes a long, slow maturation time, unlike today, where because of different pruning practices, the grapes come to sugar - not maturation - earlier and are picked in August. When first opened the wine showed a funky off-aroma and taste. After 20 minutes, the wine opened up, fleshed out and was still velvety lovely even long after the tasting ended. We tend to be too impatient with older wines. After all, it has been locked up in a bottle for over 30 years it is going to have to air out a bit, and perhaps some of those unpleasant aromas were from the more vegetal cabernet franc.
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2 |
N/A |
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1985
One of the best vintages of all time! Picked earlier, in August, lower sugars, and less oak aging than in the 1970's. More focus on structure of wines, more skin contact. Blend is 81% Cabernet, 12% Cabernet Franc and 7% Merlot. |
4 |
N/A |
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1986
Pretty nose. Distinct mintiness and earthiness. A softer, fleshier, rounder wine than the 1985. Only 5% Cab Franc. |
14 |
N/A |
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1987
Very vibrant, black cherry nose. The early bud-break, short heat wave in May and low rain fall made for small berries but with intense flavor.
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3 |
N/A |
| Flight III: Private Reserve Cabernets from the 1990s |
1991
This wine celebrates the 25th Anniversary for Mondavi Winery! Moreover, the technology reflects the focus of the winemaker: now there are 4 weeks of skin contact, 10% Merlot and 95% new oak for aging. As a result the wine has a denser color and richer mouth feel. This is the first wine of the evening to be marred by its youth. Bigger in texture and richness, it was still a bit closed. |
7 |
N/A |
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1992
Black cherry and berry spice to the palate. The texture is round, and the wine balanced and concentrated. |
0 |
N/A |
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1993
A nice wine from a difficult vintage that was rainy and cold. This vintage also marks the partial use of ambient, wild yeasts. |
4 |
N/A |
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1994
This acclaimed vintage produced a rich, intense, earthy, spicey wine full of black currents with a soft finish. Very fleshy. The wine now sits on the skins for 32 days and is aged in 100% new oak. |
12 |
N/A |
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1995
A similar vintage to the 1991 and 1986. Warmer nights than in 1994 resulted in the wine having lower acidity than the previous year's bottling. Showing nice fruit flavors and berry spice. |
3 |
N/A |
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1996
Lovely raspberry nose and opulent fresh fruit flavors, though the wine is still young and closed in. |
4 |
N/A |
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1997
Hearty crop of lush, rich wine with just a bit of interesting earthy dustiness in the aftertaste. |
8 |
N/A |
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1998
Another lesson learned. Buy the winemaker, NOT the vintage! This is the wine from the "El Nino" year and many people are afraid to try these wines, but this offering shows that skilled and caring winemakers can produce extremely good wine in difficult vintages. They might have to drop
fruit, and more carefully pick, but this wine has vibrant fruit, good balance and lively acidity. |
4 |
N/A |
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The Finale:
1998 Mondavi Botrytis Sauvignon Blanc Stag's Leap District (Mondavi is the largest landowner in this appellation). Rarely produced, this is an apricot ambrosia with great concentration of fruit and acidity.
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