Winemaker Notes
An endlessly generous, layered and complex expression of To Kalon terroir: The clean blackberry entry opens up into a delicious mouthful of wild berries, black olive, sage and cassis framed by warm mocha, toasted bread and a touch of granitic minerality. Fine, well-integrated tannins and deep, rich flavors that linger.
Professional Ratings
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Tasting Panel
A stunner-dignified and mature (yet so age-worthy). This wine is goosebump-giving world-class, from its blue violet nose to its elegant core. The gritty tannins soften and it evolves with a lava flow of dark chocolate and dark black cherry and cardamom, held up with acidity and pedigree.
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Jeb Dunnuck
During my visit, I was also able to taste the 2010 Cabernet Sauvignon Reserve, which comes from a cooler year that saw a substantial heat wave later in the year. Including 4% Petit Verdot and 2% Cabernet Franc, this full-bodied, concentrated, yet balanced and impressively textured beauty offers up loads of chocolatey dark fruits, classy oak, lead pencil, and cedar-like aromas and flavors. It has a touch of Old World vibe, as do many 2010s, yet it brings classic Napa Valley fruit and texture and is a beautiful, balanced Cabernet with another 20 years of longevity ahead of it.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The 2010 Cabernet Sauvignon Reserve (a blend of 94% Cabernet Sauvignon, 4% Petit Verdot and 2% Cabernet Franc) exhibits a dense purple color, more tannin, structure and spice, terrific richness and plenty of black currant, vanillin and loamy soil characteristics. Given past track records, this full-bodied, impressive Reserve should easily age for 25-35 years.
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Wine Spectator
Beautifully crafted, pure, rich and complex, featuring tiers of red and black fruit, cherry, raspberry and spice, gaining subtle oak and fresh earth details. The fine-grained tannins deliver backbone and grip, imparting an accent of dried herbs and oak on the graceful finish.
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Wine Enthusiast
It's easy to use the word “huge” to describe this Cabernet, which contains smaller amounts of Petit Verdot and Cabernet Franc. It immediately takes over the palate with ripe, opulent cherry pie, blackberry tart, cassis liqueur, green olive and oak flavors. The tannins are very strong, the most powerful of Mondavi Cabernets in years. Which leads to the question of ageability. Where's this wine going?
A noble variety bestowed with both power and concentration, Cabernet Sauvignon enjoys success all over the globe, its best examples showing potential to age beautifully for decades. Cabernet Sauvignon flourishes in Bordeaux's Medoc where it is often blended with Merlot and smaller amounts of some combination of Cabernet Franc, Malbecand Petit Verdot. In the Napa Valley, ‘Cab’ is responsible for some of the world’s most prestigious, age-worthy and sought-after “cult” wines. Somm Secret—DNA profiling in 1997 revealed that Cabernet Sauvignon was born from a spontaneous crossing of Cabernet Franc and Sauvignon Blanc in 17th century southwest France.
Home to some of the most sought-after Cabernet Sauvignon in America, Napa Valley’s Oakville district stretches across the center of Napa's valley floor and foothills between the Vaca and Mayacamas Mountains. This AVA is home to the legendary To Kalon Vineyard and Martha's Vineyard, as well as many powerhouse wineries including Screaming Eagle, Silver Oak, Robert Mondavi, Opus One, Far Niente and Groth.
The climate is generally warm and agreeable, resulting in year after year of favorable vintages. Summer days see a gentle tug of war between warmer inland air and the cool air coming in from the San Pablo Bay, creating an ideal environment to grow red varieties. Oakville's diverse soils, namely ancient sea bedrock, clay and gravel, are well-drained, and perfect for high-caliber viticulture.
Cabernet here is often bottled varietally but is also popular in Bordeaux Blends. Oakville wines are known for their silky, sensual textures, structured tannins, dark and brooding fruit and lovely aromatics. These age-worthy and prestigious wines are favored by collectors throughout the world.