OK, I'll say it, I love Mondavi

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retard

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???

What just happened here?

Don’t worry about the snark. Like what you like.

We had a '92 Mondavi Reserve easily hold it’s own against an array of 80’s and 90’s Montelena Estate, Altamura, Bosche, Cafaro, Staglin, etc. The reputation is (was) deserved.

My experience is that They are nice enough crowd pleasers, but they tend to lack much character. Generous fruit, low acid, uber-soft tannins. It’s kind of a “safe pick”.

Try a 1994 Reserve Cab and then see if your opinion changes. one of the best cab’s I have ever had, period…and I have had many cab’s over the years. I had the 94 at dinner a few days before New Years Eve and the wine was just simply outstanding. We couldn’t keep our hands off the bottle, everyone wanted more…outshined a great bottle of 97 Groth Reserve and 05 Realm by a long shot. I would almost say the same thing about a 97 Reserve. Another great bottle of wine.

You said it rather quietly.

I agree. No…really and seriously! I’ve got a bunch of the Reserve in the cellar, and their refined style (in general) is often a welcome retreat from more modern interpretations of Napa Cab.

Not sure wtf happened on this thread, but I had an '01 Res cab over the holidays that was just about as good as classic CA cab gets, imo.

It’s not at all cool. It’s not hard to get hold of. So everybody shut up and enjoy the fact that the good Reserves (and they can be very good) are cheap at auction, and let those who have to show that they’re above mere mass-market beverages chase labels.

See also: Monte Bello (a notch better, a notch less disparaged) and Beringer PR (a notch less good, a notch more disparaged), both still low-demand and reasonable.

If you want to try a high- [or higher-] acid Mondavi, then get a bottle of the 1995 Reserve.

It’s one of the best American wines I have ever tasted - easily the best Mondavi of the last 20 years - and, if you’re lucky, then you might be able to find a bottle in [u]the general vicinity of $75[/u].

Unfortunately, about a year or two after the release of the 1995, RMP and Laube started beating the drums to have Tim Mondavi fired, for the sin of making high-acid, food-friendly cabernets, instead of low-acid hedonistic fruit bombs.

I had the 1978, from magnum, circa 2008, and it was like drinking liquid chocolate.

I’ve had some excellent Mondavi Reserves from the 90s. Has anyone tried some of the more recent years, such as 2005 and 2006? Was thinking of taking a flyer on the 2006.

I’ve only had the '74, '76, '78, '87 and '91-'97 Reserve’s, which have all been great…I have some '01’s but haven’t gotten around to them yet.

Of the 90’s, I’ve only had the 96 and 99 that I remember and made formal note of. Both were passed over at dinners for other wines. The 99 probably had a third of the bottle left when all of the other reds were toast. Everyone had a very similar impression.

Next try Louis Martini!