Tim Mondavi 1, Critics 0
Posted: Sat Sep 22, 2007 8:58 pm
1995 Mondavi Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon Reserve
Bright, delicate, light on its feet, friendly, cheerful, almost playful - certainly optimistic.
It's even got complexity - some texture, some layering, and some nuance.
[I can count on the fingers of one hand the California wines I've had in my life which showed any complexity whatsoever, and this one is at the very head of the class.]
I've had it three times now, in big tastings, opposite famous labels, with huge scores from the critics, and every time it has been the clear winner, with no other wine even close to it.
What sets apart the 1995 Reserve is its acidity - it's a clean, cutting, precise wine, vibrant, and frankly alive - you could almost call it a light in the darkness - heck, it is a light in the darkness - as opposed to most older California Cabernets, which show an alarming tendency to reek of foul, rotting carrion [being the carcass of spoilt coconut juice when it finally relinquishes the ghost].
I don't know whether this wine dates from Tim Mondavi's much-maligned "Italian" phase, but if it does, then Tim was right, and all of his critics were wrong.
Whatever Mondavi did that year - early harvest of green fruit, fermentation on stems, concrete vats, fining, filtration, even acidulation - they need to bottle up that recipe and never forget it.
A towering, monumental achievement in California winemaking, and a style which all California Cabernet vintners should strive to emulate.
Bright, delicate, light on its feet, friendly, cheerful, almost playful - certainly optimistic.
It's even got complexity - some texture, some layering, and some nuance.
[I can count on the fingers of one hand the California wines I've had in my life which showed any complexity whatsoever, and this one is at the very head of the class.]
I've had it three times now, in big tastings, opposite famous labels, with huge scores from the critics, and every time it has been the clear winner, with no other wine even close to it.
What sets apart the 1995 Reserve is its acidity - it's a clean, cutting, precise wine, vibrant, and frankly alive - you could almost call it a light in the darkness - heck, it is a light in the darkness - as opposed to most older California Cabernets, which show an alarming tendency to reek of foul, rotting carrion [being the carcass of spoilt coconut juice when it finally relinquishes the ghost].
I don't know whether this wine dates from Tim Mondavi's much-maligned "Italian" phase, but if it does, then Tim was right, and all of his critics were wrong.
Whatever Mondavi did that year - early harvest of green fruit, fermentation on stems, concrete vats, fining, filtration, even acidulation - they need to bottle up that recipe and never forget it.
A towering, monumental achievement in California winemaking, and a style which all California Cabernet vintners should strive to emulate.