- 1997 Robert Mondavi Winery Cabernet Sauvignon Reserve - USA, California, Napa Valley (11/11/2024)
Well, this comes from Era which gone with the wind....
Different winemaking, different climate weather caused completly diffrent style than is produced in recent vingages in Napa. Wine is delicate, compact body, elegant, with superb fit of all components to each other and vivid accidity. Tannins are not bitter nor dry. Overall style reminds me Burgundy not Napa or even Bordeaux.
In 90's Winery was still in hands of Mondavi family with Tim Mondavi as winemaker (93 points)Posted from CellarTracker
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Btw do you notice beautiful label which is many light years from current awfull labels under Constellation Brands management?
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Was Tim the winemaker at that time or had it already been passed to someone else?
This was about the time when folks started to explore ‘hang time’ in Napa and we started seeing alc levels increase precipitously. I’d be curious to see what the average stated alcohol in Napa was in the early 90’s and then what it was by the end of the decade.
Cheers
Yep, Tim was still the winemaker in 97.
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This was also the year that Genevieve Janssens was elevated to Director of Winemaking, perhaps setting up a change in style.
Cheers
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These Are The Good Old Days
I remember back then even basic Napa Mondavi CS bottling ($200 cs at grocery stores) was delightful. I threw back a half dozen of the 97’s in their first decade with fond/blurry memory.
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