Robert Mondavi Winery

Oakville (Napa), CA

I wondered if any locals like us actually visited Robert Mondavi Winery?  I think the general impression is that Mondavi  is a respected and established winery but that it probably is not the winery today that it was 20 and 30 years ago when it was really instrumental in establishing the Napa Valley as one of the premiere wine growing regions of the world.  Back in our formative years of wine tasting in the late 70’s and early 80’s Robert Mondavi Winery was one of the must stops for us.  I remember the stories of why Robert Mondavi went out and established his own winery after disagreements with his father and brother at Charles Krug Winery.  I remember the talk about how Robert wanted to use new technologies including stainless steel in the wine making process where Charles Krug was somewhat stuck in their current techniques.   But I kind of thought that maybe that Mondavi was getting a little tired and the story a little old especially in light of the fact that Mondavi is now part of a large corporation.

We visited the Robert Mondavi winery over the weekend.  We had friends in town from Hawaii and they had requested this stop.  Of course I thought if it was my choice we would have gone somewhere else but I think that would have been a mistake as we had a perfectly delightful tasting experience here.  I have to admit we visited Mondavi a couple of years ago as part of the now defunct Napa Mustard Festival.  This was an event though with lots and lots of wineries pouring and different musical entertainment so it really was not a ‘Mondavi’ experience.  I do remember that we were really impressed with the grounds and all the buildings on the property and the classic feel of the operation.  I’m not even sure we tasted any Robert Mondavi wine at his event.  Our visit last weekend though was a total ‘Mondavi’ experience.  We still heard many of the same stories that we had heard 30+ years ago but we also heard about how far Mondavi wine had come since those days. 

 

I researched the website prior to making our tasting appointment.  They have a variety of tasting experiences available at $15, $20, $30, $50 and $55.  At first I thought I would make an appointment for the fairly quick in and out $15 Discovery Tour but then I thought that with some out of town guests that may not have had the full educational tour and tasting we opted for the 75 minute Signature Tour and Tasting at $30.  We arrived prior to our 10AM tour and the facility was almost empty.  You check in at the Hospitality Center and received little badges which identified our tour.  We had made reservations at least 10 days prior which I am sure is a necessity during busy summer weekends.  They do charge your credit card when you make the reservation.  Our group consisted of 10 people, the eight in our group plus a couple from Brazil.  Our hostess was named Laura.



The view out the back of the property

We started our tour with a walk to a small conference room where we got a bit of an education on the winery, Robert Mondavi, the vineyards and the Mondavi brands.  We learned that the Woodbridge label sells about 10 million cases and that the Mondavi labeled wines from Monterey County sell around 4 million cases.  Wow!!  The wines made on the property (and there are a lot of them) are produced from Napa grapes only.  We then went out on a stroll to the vineyard.  The winery has a couple of hundred acres surrounding the property as well as vineyards in the Carneros and Stag’s Leap district and they also purchase grapes.  Of course it was a beautiful day in Napa.  The whole backside of the facility faces the Mayacamas Mountains to the west.  We then entered the winemaking facility on the property which was completed in the year 2000.  It is a big facility which makes you wonder what the Woodbridge facility must look like.  The facility is several levels with winemaking on the upper levels and barrel storage below.  Everything looks new and clean.  Laura took us through the basic winemaking process and when done we went to another room where a table had been set for us and we started our tasting. 

The Red Barrel Room

Laura took us through the three steps of wine tasting.  The first is to smell the wine, the second to sip and swish to shock/prepare your mouth (hold it in as long as possible), and then the third sip is when you really enjoy all the flavors.  I think there is some substance to this methodology but something you can forget to do pretty quickly. 

 

We tasted four wines (three on the list plus a bonus wine).  The first was the 2011 Carneros Chardonnay Reserve ($50), next the 2011 Carneros Pinot Noir Reserve ($60) and then the 2010 Stag’s Leap Cabernet ($90).  I thought the Chardonnay was well balanced and not over oaked or overly creamy.  The Pinot smelled and tasted terrific and we all agreed the Cabernet a little too tannic and probably could have used 5 hours of decanting.  I bet the Cab will taste fantastic in 5 years.  We also got to taste a Moscato which was definitely our dessert.  We were also treated with just out of the oven Parmesan and Rosemary Crackers.  The recipe was provided and everyone agreed to make these at home. 

 

At 75 minutes into our experience Laura told us our time was up.  Obviously we were having a good time because it is not often that we have to be ushered out of a tasting room.  I think they run these tasting on a pretty tight schedule.

 

We were then led into the sales room.  Laura hung with us a bit to help with any purchases.  One of the members of our group asked me if we needed to tip our host.  This thought had also occurred to me as she really did a fantastic job.  I said the answer was no but I have to admit it was the first time that this had ever occurred to me at the end of a wine tour.

 

What we liked- There was little to not like about the experience.  I think everyone thought the $30 fee was reasonable.  Certainly you do not do the full tour experience too often and you do not want to be throwing out $30 here and there on a regular basis but I would not hesitate to bring anyone, especially people that are newer to wine and wine tasting, to Mondavi.  A bonus if you are a Robert Mondavi wine club member is the free tasting at five other wineries including Franciscan and Simi Wineries. 

What we bought- We did not buy it but we came home with it- A 2008 Napa Valley Reserve Cabernet purchased by one of our guests.  We are not worthy but we will certainly enjoy it.

 

Vitals

Robert Mondavi Winery

7801 St. Helena Highway

Napa, CA  94574

(888)766-6328

www.robertmondaviwinery.com

Frog’s Leap Winery

Rutherford (Napa), CA

Although we have made a few trip to Napa over the past few months, for the most part we have visited wineries that we have talked about in the past.  When you have friends in town that you want to make sure have a great time in Napa we tend to go to wineries that you know will provide the experience you are looking for.  Last weekend we had a couple from Oregon with us and we only had half a day so we knew three wineries would be the limit.  We took them to Robert Biale because we know their wines are excellent and because it is just out of Napa and one of the closest quality wineries from our home.  As before Biale did not disappoint.  Their Zins and Petite Sirahs are excellent.  We next went to Frog’s Leap and then followed that by stopping at Hall for some excellent Cabernet and then for a cool down with a beer and great snacks at Farmstead which is becoming our favorite end of day stop. 

We had visited Frog’s Leap before but since we did not have time for the full tasting opted for a single taste and we were impressed.  We thought it would be a good place to return to for a full tasting this time.  We were really impressed on our first visit with the building and grounds on the property.  This is a ‘reservation only’ winery and at least in the summer time it is important to make reservations early.  I think I was making reservations on the Wednesday before (we went on a Sunday) and many of the time slots were already taken.  When we arrived on Sunday for our 1:45 reservation there was a sign out front that stated reservations were full up for the day.  There are three different types of Tasting Experience offered.  The first is a seated tasting on their deck which faces the Mayacamas Mountains.  The second experience includes a full walking tour of the grounds followed by a tasting and the third experience is kind of a go at your own pace Garden tasting.  By Napa standards they are pretty reasonably priced.  The seated tasting includes a small food plate and runs $20 as does the full walking tour.  The Garden tasting runs $15.00.  We chose the Garden tasting because I did not want to spend the  90 minutes on the walking tour and assumed the Garden option would be really nice.

 

View from the porch

The grounds are pretty impressive.  Frog’s Leap sits on a five acre property which includes the main Vineyard House (hospitality headquarters), several outbuildings, which I assume are wine making buildings, and then a couple acres of gardens and even room from chickens and farm animals.  Our Oregon guests were impressed with the variety of fruits and vegetables growing on the property.  Scattered amongst the gardens are various seating arrangements and fountains. 

When we arrived on the property we were checked in and directed to the Garden area. There is a tasting station where you walk up and pay your fees and receive your tastes.   They quickly noted that we were new to the tasting and provided us glasses and the first taste of Chardonnay.  There were maybe 25 people scattered around the tasting area and two host pouring which was a good ratio.  My knock on the Garden tasting compared to what I assume you would get in the Seated tasting is that we did not receive a lot of information on each wine.  Earlier at Biale for instance we were provided very specific details about each wine we tasted (and as bonus, Robert Biale’s mother stopped by our tasting table).  I think this somewhat has to do with the fact that they are pouring four different wines at once in the Garden depending where you are in the process while in a seated tasting everyone is generally tasting the same wine.  We did like the Chardonnay though.

 

The other wines we tasted were a Zinfandel, Cabernet and a Petite Sirah.  The wines were good but not overwhelming.  They were reasonably priced though with the Chard at $26.00 up to the Cabernet at $42.00.  They do also produce a Rutherford Cabernet at $75.00 as well as a Merlot and a few other wines.    We casually tasted our wines and left the property without making any purchases.  In fact there was not even a mention of where we could purchase wine and no mention of a wine club.  Those are usually good things when you are trying to avoid purchasing more wine.  I think here it must have just been a really busy day.

 

Garden area

I would not hesitate to return to Frog’s Leap with out of town guests because it really is a beautiful facility and the grounds really are top notch. 

What we liked- The casual atmosphere and the beautiful grounds.  Next time we will do the seated tasting though because I would like to learn more about the winery, winemakers, owners and wine.  Also they have one of the best websites anywhere.

What we bought- We did not buy anything but I will look for Frog’s Leap wines in the store and if I find good pricing I would buy any of the wines we tasted.

 

Vitals-

Frog’s Leap Winery

8815 Conn Creek Road

Rutherford, CA  94558

(707) 963-4704

www.frogsleap.com