After the family sold, I stopped buying. In part because I liked the idea of supporting smaller wineries and in part because I worried their style would change to a bigger, bolder wine. I always thought the Reserve Cab bottling, especially going back to the late 70s through the mid 90s, was outstanding.
I now regret that I have no more of their wines and was thinking about procuring some more recent vintages at auction, but wanted to get perspective on whether there was a stylistic change away from more of a classic Napa wine to more of a fruit forward wine. Any thoughts?
I still buy a bottle or two of To Kalon Reserve per vintage on the secondary market. I find they’ve stayed more towards the classic Napa side and I always enjoy them. Can often find it at very good prices especially compared to some of the big names. Beringer I don’t buy anymore but I think they’ve also stayed in the classic vein. It was one of the first good Napa Cabs I started drinking so I enjoy having some vertical of it being able to open. Yes, supporting big conglomerates and there’s the whole To Kalon hullabaloo but it’s only a few bottles.
You will get some much more animated responses on this board, to be sure.
I buy Mondavi Reserve as well as Beringer PR current vintages when I find them on WineBid for less than $100 per bottle. Bought 5 bottles of 2015 Mondavi Reserve (current vintage at time) for $85 per bottle last summer on WineBid.
I find Mondavi and Beringer to be somewhere in the middle between “classic” and “modern” Napa. And great wines when bought below $100.
around Christmas the To Kalon went on a pretty serious sale at some Costcos. bought one or two. but no really I have only had experience with older vintages. but damn are they good.
It’s a good wine if you can get it at a good price. Probably won’t fall under the category of “natural” if that matters to you. Some people won’t buy it because it’s owned by a big company now, but then again, those people don’t buy any wine that’s transported or shipped by a big company, or uses glass that’s made by a big corporation rather than an artisan, or sold in a shop that earns more than X number of appropriate dollars a year, etc. But taken strictly on it’s own merits, it’s a decent wine. Not jammy or sweet, still on the classic side. Last one I had was a couple years ago, and there are wines I’d take in preference, but I’d buy it if I found it at a bargain price.
Constellation bought a lot of great vineyards when they bought Mondavi and that includes the majority of the ToKalon. Since they cannot sell wine from that vineyard for what others do they ended up creating a brand with Andy Erickson and buying Schrader. They allowed Genevieve Janssens free range in making these wines. I think that Nova Cadamatre will continue to be allowed to have the same deal.
The wines are really good, esp if you are looking for something more classical.
Since they bought a ton of barrels and tanks from me over the years I may be a bit prejudiced.
I love old Mondavi PR. Had many great bottles from the 80’s and 90’s. The new ones I’ve had on release don’t give me the impression that they’ll quite age the same as the older ones. As others have noted they’re somewhere between fully traditional and fully modern. I’ve found the wines extracted and darkly fruited with moderate oak, yet totally dry (no RS). Not the inky, jammy & RS profile of a modern cab, however not the lighter, herbal, tobacco, orange peel profile of the older wines.
Old 90s / early 00s vintages of Mondavi Reserve can be excellent and they used to be widely available for maybe $60-70 a bottle up until recently. Sigh, not as much any more
This thread inspired me to do my first auction bid in ages and start a minor bidding war over at K&L wines lol
Love the stuff. Haven’t had any with some age on it, but it’s probably my favorite Napa cab. Don’t buy a ton, but when it’s $99 at Binnys I’ll buy a couple to have on hand for special occasions.
Nathan, I’ve been tempted on the Continuum, but the prices have kept me away, but maybe its time to splurge. I think Tim is a brilliant winemaker, however, and agree ‘95 was outstanding. Honestly, the entire 90s were pretty solid. I had a ‘99 recently and really enjoyed it, my last one.