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.
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| 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.
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| 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
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