Champagne Wishes: 2009 CABERNET SAUVIGNON NAPA VALLEY BY ROBERT MONDAVI WINERY HIGHLY RECOMMENDED BY WHOM YOU KNOW! WE ARE PLEASED TO KICK OFF OUR COVERAGE OF ROBERT MONDAVI
Cabernet Sauvignon is one of Peachy Deegan's most favorite wines, and the 2009 Robert Mondavi Napa Valley edition is no exception. Though technically it is 75% Cabernet Sauvignon blended with mostly Merlot and Cabernet Franc, the end result is genius. It's full-bodied and standalone with a cheese plate (Peachy prefers hard cheese) it is a home-run after a long day, and paired with a meal, this wine could trump the entree, even if the chef thought it was the piece de resistance! You know we embrace the classics at Whom You Know, and this Cabernet is a modern classic. Of course, we love that it is made in the USA and we enjoyed reading the history of this brand that dates back to 1930 with its first vintage released in 1966-http://www.robertmondavi.com/history. As the months of winter wind down, we are still embracing true reds such as this and believe this vintage boasts exceptional complex notes of dark fruits that will heighten your senses, leaving you impressed. This is one to both add to your table and your collection for later enjoyment as well! Whom You Know Highly Recommends the 2009 Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon by Robert Mondavi."The extraordinary quality of this wine originates in Napa Valley’s generous terroir. When I taste this, I’m reminded why Cabernet Sauvignon is the varietal on which Robert Mondavi built his reputation."
-Genevieve Janssens - Director of Winemaking
•WINE•
Varietal composition:
75% Cabernet Sauvignon
11% Merlot
10% Cabernet Franc
2% Syrah
1% Petit Verdot
1% Malbec
Flavor descriptors:
Deep, dense and concentrated, the flavors echo intense aromas of blueberry, bramble and cassis intermingled with cocoa, cinnamon and sweet, toasty oak. Bold, yet supple on the palate, the dark, richly-fruity flavors are balanced by a bright acidity and long finish.
Wine analysis:
Total acid: 6.0 g/L
Final pH: 3.63
Residual sugar: .57 g/L
Alcohol: 14.5% by volume
•VINTAGE•
This was a classic, nearly-textbook growing season of warm, sunny days and cool, foggy nights punctuated by a couple of brief heat blasts - the perfect recipe for long, flavor-building hangtime and ideal sugar to acid balance. It was remarkably smooth sailing when we began picking Cabernet Sauvignon on September 19 until a rare tropical storm interrupted the harvest, soaking parts of the Central and Northern California vineyards with more than 4 inches of rain over three days. Fortunately, we had harvested all of our white grape varieties and 91 percent of our reds when the storm blew in on October 13th. We gave the small amount of thick-skinned, rain-resistant Cabernet Sauvignon left to be harvested a few days to dry out and accumulate optimal sugar before resuming the harvest, finishing up on October 23rd. The most common themes for the vintage were low yields of small, flavorful berries and excellent flavor maturity.
•Vineyards•
Cabernet is king in Napa Valley and we selected the fruit for this wine from the valley’s most renowned AVAs (sub-regions) including Stag’s Leap and Oakville, with 31% coming from the famed To Kalon vineyard. These classic sites are ones we can count on to deliver the deep, richly fruity Cabernet that made Napa Valley famous.
Appellation: Napa Valley
Grape Sourcing: 100% Napa Valley (31% To Kalon Vineyard)
•winemaking•
The grapes were hand harvested in the cool of the morning and gently de-stemmed into stainless steel tanks (purity of fruit expression) and oak tanks (added complexity and depth of flavor) for a warm fermentation. Three weeks extended maceration (skin-contact time) maximized the extraction of color and flavor and polished the tannins for a rich, supple mouthfeel. The new wine was transferred to sixty-gallon French oak barrels (15% new) for malolactic fermentation. Seventeen months of barrel-aging provided additional complexity to this refined wine. The wine was bottled in June, 2011.
Suggested retail price: $28.00
