1999 Cabernet Sauvignon Reserve

Wine Details
Place of Origin

United States

Oakville

Napa

Color

Red

Grape/Blend

Cabernet Sauvignon

Reviews & Tasting Notes

00

Drinking Window

2019 - 2029

Subscriber Access Only

or Sign Up

You'll Find The Article Name Here

Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Integer vitae aliquam odio. Aliquam purus diam, tempor et consectetur vitae, eleifend ac quam. Proin nec mauris ac odio iaculis semper. Integer posuere pharetra aliquet. Nullam tincidunt sagittis est in maximus. Donec sem orci, vulputate ac quam non, consectetur fermentum diam. In dignissim magna id orci dignissim convallis. Integer sit amet placerat dui. Aliquam pharetra ornare nulla at vulputate. Sed dictum, mi eget fringilla lacinia, nisl tortor condimentum mi, vitae ultrices quam diam ac neque. Donec hendrerit vulputate felis, fringilla varius massa.

- By Author Name on Month Date, Year

00

Subscriber Access Only

or Sign Up

You'll Find The Article Name Here

Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Integer vitae aliquam odio. Aliquam purus diam, tempor et consectetur vitae, eleifend ac quam. Proin nec mauris ac odio iaculis semper. Integer posuere pharetra aliquet. Nullam tincidunt sagittis est in maximus. Donec sem orci, vulputate ac quam non, consectetur fermentum diam. In dignissim magna id orci dignissim convallis. Integer sit amet placerat dui. Aliquam pharetra ornare nulla at vulputate. Sed dictum, mi eget fringilla lacinia, nisl tortor condimentum mi, vitae ultrices quam diam ac neque. Donec hendrerit vulputate felis, fringilla varius massa.

- By Author Name on Month Date, Year

00

Subscriber Access Only

or Sign Up

You'll Find The Article Name Here

Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Integer vitae aliquam odio. Aliquam purus diam, tempor et consectetur vitae, eleifend ac quam. Proin nec mauris ac odio iaculis semper. Integer posuere pharetra aliquet. Nullam tincidunt sagittis est in maximus. Donec sem orci, vulputate ac quam non, consectetur fermentum diam. In dignissim magna id orci dignissim convallis. Integer sit amet placerat dui. Aliquam pharetra ornare nulla at vulputate. Sed dictum, mi eget fringilla lacinia, nisl tortor condimentum mi, vitae ultrices quam diam ac neque. Donec hendrerit vulputate felis, fringilla varius massa.

- By Author Name on Month Date, Year

Tim Mondavi has drawn criticism, some of it surprisingly harsh, for his campaign to craft wines that can more easily be consumed with a meal, as opposed to the increasingly common high-alcohol, heavily oaked blunderbusses that he feels lack restraint and elegance. While I find it difficult to fault Mondavi's objectives, I am not yet convinced that the Napa Valley can consistently achieve thoroughly ripe skin components at moderate grape sugars. I also wonder whether the market will be willing to pay today's steep California wine prices for bottles that don't whack them upside the head just to get their attention. While Mondavi's 1999 and 2000 cabernet-based wines are undeniably stylish and well-made, there is an endless supply of food-friendly red wine made around the world and available in the retail market for $20 or less. Mondavi described the 2000 vintage, especially in the winery's outstanding To-Kalon Vineyard, as riper, rounder and softer, with a larger crop that needed thinning. 1999, he said, has more acidity but boasts very good density.

00

Subscriber Access Only

or Sign Up

You'll Find The Article Name Here

Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Integer vitae aliquam odio. Aliquam purus diam, tempor et consectetur vitae, eleifend ac quam. Proin nec mauris ac odio iaculis semper. Integer posuere pharetra aliquet. Nullam tincidunt sagittis est in maximus. Donec sem orci, vulputate ac quam non, consectetur fermentum diam. In dignissim magna id orci dignissim convallis. Integer sit amet placerat dui. Aliquam pharetra ornare nulla at vulputate. Sed dictum, mi eget fringilla lacinia, nisl tortor condimentum mi, vitae ultrices quam diam ac neque. Donec hendrerit vulputate felis, fringilla varius massa.

- By Author Name on Month Date, Year

"Today, a less sophisticated form of winemaking is what honored in California," Tim Mondavi told me in early March. "What we need is to balance the fruit to the site, and the winemaking to the fruit. I think we're just a little farther along the path toward honoring the site." Mondavi is intentionally crafting wines that can be consumed with dinner, as opposed to high-alcohol, heavily oaked monsters that are more appropriate as meal substitutes. Last summer the Mondavis installed 52 new Taransaud fermenters for their reserve program; a taste comparison between wine done in these vessels and the same juice vinified in stainless steel showed an altogether more sophisticated, mellow texture in the cask-fermented lots. In my extensive tasting of current and upcoming Mondavi wines, I found many of the 1998 reds a bit green and thin, but the 1999s offer a lovely combination of density of flavor and restraint.