Winemaker Notes
This 2000 Cabernet Sauvignon Reserve is the first vintage made in our new To Kalon Cellar and represents our highest values - our finest vineyards, our respect for both tradition an innovation, and our unwavering passion for excellence. <P>The To Kalon Cellar brings to life my vision of a winemaking facility equal to the superior quality of the grapes from our historic To Kalon Vineyard. The Cellar's gentle gravity-flow design includes 56 French oak fermentation tanks. The return to oak fermentation enhances the aromas, flavors and complexity into our finest Cabernets, and imparts both immediate approachability and incredible aging potential. <P>As always, the fruit for this Cabernet Reserve comes from our finest vineyards, including over 50% from our To Kalon Vineyard and a total of 84% from the Oakville appellation. These vineyards consistently produce the most expressive and complex wines; it's no coincidence that they hold some of Napa Valley's oldest vines, which produce powerful, concentrated fruit. <p>This year also marks my father's 90th birthday, which gives us even more reason to celebrate and raise a glass with you. May this wine bring grace to your table and zest to your life. <P>Very sincerely,<br>Tim Mondavi
Professional Ratings
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Wine Spectator
Showing impressive strength and finesse, this is an iron fist in a velvet glove, supple and harmonious, gaining on the finish where licorice and charcoal accents extend the flavors.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
There are 18,000-20,000 cases of the 2000 Cabernet Sauvignon Reserve, one of the finest efforts from this difficult vintage. The wine is a blend of 80% Cabernet Sauvignon, 14% Cabernet Franc, and the rest Merlot and Malbec. It exhibits a deep purple color as well as an elegant, sweet perfume of black currants intertwined with licorice, loamy soil, and hints of mints as well as new oak. It is ripe, long, and structured, with medium to full body, outstanding purity and concentration, and a persistent finish. This elegant Cabernet will be at its finest between 2006-2020.
Rating: 90-92 -
Wine Enthusiast
Oak dominates in the wine’s youth, with scents of wood and smoky earth. In the mouth, rich and dense. The tannins are thick, but soft and melted. Acidity kicks in on the finish. Structurally superb, but curiously lean and herbal in flavor, as thought it were deliberately picked early. No doubt meant for the cellar.
One of the most prestigious wines of the world capable of great power and grace, Napa Valley Cabernet is a leading force in the world of fine, famous, collectible red wine. Today the Napa Valley and Cabernet Sauvignon are so intrinsically linked that it is difficult to discuss one without the other. But it wasn’t until the 1970s that this marriage came to light; sudden international recognition rained upon Napa with the victory of the Stag’s Leap Wine Cellars 1973 Cabernet Sauvignon in the 1976 Judgement of Paris.
Cabernet Sauvignon undoubtedly dominates Napa Valley today, covering half of the land under vine, commanding the highest prices per ton and earning the most critical acclaim. Cabernet Sauvignon’s structure, acidity, capacity to thrive in multiple environs and ability to express nuances of vintage make it perfect for Napa Valley where incredible soil and geographical diversity are found and the climate is perfect for grape growing. Within the Napa Valley lie many smaller sub-AVAs that express specific characteristics based on situation, slope and soil—as a perfect example, Rutherford’s famous dust or Stags Leap District's tart cherry flavors.