Let me tell you why I hate the Wine Spectator’s Top 100 list. It is an annual publicized lists of what the venerable Wine Spectator magazine determines are the best wines available. This ranking results from the best of prior reviews done during the year. Essentially, it is a repeat of high ratings, that generally sell out the first time it is published. It is repeated during the holiday season so that frenetic gift buyers come into the store looking for wines we can’t order because they sold out the first go around. Sometimes, due to a fluke in distribution timing due to older vintages still clogging the pipeline, the release of some wines came after the first write-up and was available to the holiday hoards with top 100 lists clutched in their hands. This is a long preamble to how we bought this classic Oakville Cabernet and were able to offer it to you at such a great price.

Most of you will know that when a wine hits the annual Wine Spectator Top 100 Wines of the World list, it typically sells out fast. If a wine happens to be in the top 10 ... it’s normally gone in minutes. We got the news that the 2019 Robert Mondavi Oakville Cabernet would be released, and it made #6 on the Top 100 list. To clear room for 2019, our distributor had to offer us a great price on the highly rated 2018 vintage at a third off, and we are passing on the savings to you. Put another way, your purchase price on the 2018 is slightly less than what we originally paid for the 2018. The difference being we were allocated 5 six packs of 2019, and we bought all that we could of 2018, 42 cases. Still with me, but wait, the story becomes even more interesting.

Part of the attraction of the Mondavi Oakville Cabernet 2018 is that it is 97% To Kalan vineyard fruit. Arguably, the most famous vineyard in all of Napa Valley, that typically fetches prices well north of $150 and frequently over $300 a bottle. Responsible for legendary powerhouse wines, including Cliffe Ledde, Realm, Harlan, Opus One, Schrader Cellars, Paul Hobbs, and Tor Wines. There are only six owners of To Kalan vineyards, four being very small and bottled their own juice. Andy Beckstoffer, who owns most of Nothern Californian’s best vineyards, bought the 89 acres of To Kalon Beaulieu Vineyard in 1993. Although Andy does not make the wine himself, he has an interesting pricing policy for his grapes from this most prestigious vineyard. The cost to winemakers for a ton (2,200 lbs) of Beckstoffer To Kalon grapes is calculated by taking the final shelf price of the wine multiplied by 100 with no wine selling for under $175. To put that in perspective, a $200 bottle of wine will cost $20,000 a ton for grapes, compared to Napa’s average for 2019 is $7,941 per ton. To Kalon has produced some of Napa’s most outstanding (and most expensive) red wines, contributing to the mythology of Napa Valley as a Cabernet Sauvignon paradise. The largest owner of To Kalan vineyards is Robert Mondavi Winery.

When Robert Mondavi chose the To Kalon Vineyard in west Oakville as the home for his new winery in 1966, he remarked, “It was a vineyard with a distinguished history and a magical nature. Ideal soils, sunlight, and rain—to my eye, the vineyard was a treasure.” Those sentiments were re-confirmed when the To Kalon Vineyard was named the Vineyard of the Year by the California State Farm Bureau in 2011. Robert’s original purchase in 1966 was 12 acres, and after years of buying, today Mondavi is the largest owner of the original To Kalon vineyards. Due to legal disputes with Beckstoffer, the exact acreage is variable. But that is another long story. The To Kalon name is Greek for “the place of highest beauty.” This vineyard is the backbone of Robert Mondavi Oakville Cabernet.

Vintage: Early spring rains in 2018 filled reservoirs and gave the vines ample water for the growing season. While bud break and flowering were a bit late, the season began under ideal weather conditions, creating an excellent fruit set and expectations of a generous crop. Sunshine throughout the summer was tempered by the region’s cool breezes and fog, which ensured slow, even ripening for the perfect balance between retained freshness and maximum flavor development. The grapes for our Oakville Cabernet Sauvignon were picked between September 26 and October 26.

Winemaking: The grapes were hand-harvested into small bins and carefully sorted in our gravity-flow cellar. The clusters were gently destemmed directly into traditional French oak tanks for cold soak, fermentation, and extended maceration—a total of 27 days of wine-to-skin contact—maximizing the extraction of varietal character and complexity while keeping the tannins fleshy and supple. The new wine was drained and gently pressed into French-oak barrels (100% new) for malolactic fermentation, assuring seamless integration of fruit and oak. The final blend was assembled through repeated tasting trials over the 19 months of barrel aging. The wine was bottled in July of 2020.

Grape Sourcing: 100% Napa Valley, 100% Oakville District, 97% To Kalon Vineyard®

Varietal Composition: 86% Cabernet Sauvignon, 10% Cabernet Franc, 2% Petit Verdot, 1% Malbec, 1% Merlot

Tasting Notes: Already so expressive on the nose—ripe black plum and currant, molasses ginger cookie, vanilla, fennel, and nutmeg.

Bold and intense on the palate, with more rich black plums and berries, sweet licorice, and hints of caraway seed. Bright, beautiful acidity gives the wine a freshness that makes it lovely now but which will also keep it lovely for many years to come.

The 2018 Cabernet Sauvignon Oakville is a step up and comes all from the To Kolan Vineyard in Oakville. It has a terrific array of cassis and caramelized cherry fruits intermixed with notes of flowers and tobacco. Jeb Dunnuck 94 pts

There’s a lot to be said for the great Napa Valley Cabernets of the 1970s, including the wines Mondavi was making at the time. Those classical wines were structured to last, and they have aged significantly better than Napa Valley’s next generation. Perhaps this wine represents the grandchild of a 1970s Cabernet, with the lean, direct personality of its ancestors melding into the contemporary precision and clarity of its ripeness: a pure red-currant fruit character that earlier generations may have struggled to attain. There’s an electric charge in its rooted connection to the Oakville benchlands—97% of the fruit for this wine comes from Mondavi’s To Kalon Vineyard—that charge quieting to a plum-rich caress in the end. Buy this and cellar it; you’ll be glad you did. Wine & Spirits 94 pts

Rich and seductive in feel, with a lovely swath of loamy-edged steeped plum and blackberry compote flavors, backed with flashes of anise and sweet bay leaf. A loamy edge extends nicely in lockstep with the fruit on the finish. Textbook Oakville Cabernet. Best from 2022 through 2034. Wine Spectator 93 pts

The 2018 Robert Mondavi Estates Oakville Cabernet Sauvignon is concentrated, long, and impressive. This wine delivers aromas and flavors of bold black fruit and accents of oak. Enjoy it with a grilled ribeye. Wine.com 93 pts

With 10% Cabernet Franc and small percentages of Petit Verdot, Malbec, and Merlot, this is a well-made, full-bodied wine that shows off the exuberant plushness of the appellation and vintage. A depth of berry fruit is met by dried herb and cedar, with firm tannins throughout. Wine Enthusiast 90 pts

Robert Mondavi Winery Oakville Cabernet Sauvignon 2018 

The purchase of this wine was the perfect storm. We were there because the powers that be decided to clear out the 2018 vintage because they had hot demand for the 2019 vintage due to Wine Spectators’ arbitrary Top 100 list. I’m pretty sure everyone that tried this wine with me agreed, that we came out as the winner of this deal. Dark fruit, floral nose with flavors of fresh blueberries, cassis, cola, and nectaplum. (a cross between a plum and nectarine that Rachel is fond of). Toasty acids are balanced by fine tannins. The finish of dark cherry went on forever. This is a special wine that craves ribeye steak. Normally $90, pick this wine up at a once-in-a-lifetime perfect storm of a price. 

Regular Price: $89.99

*There is no minimum or maximum quantity for this offer.

Wine is packed in a 6 bottle case.

*Wine pricing for these wine promotions are held for two weeks after the email offer.

We can hold wines in unpaid reserves for two weeks to allow you time to pick up your wine. If it takes you longer than that to pick up your wines, give us a call, and we can process your wine and move it to paid reserves.

Orders must be done by replying to this email. The reason is that I need to keep control of the inventory in one central spot. Emailing or calling your favorite wine geek at one of our four stores may not get your orders in on time to be counted or processed and this creates a helter-skelter for us to get you the wine. For the same reason, ordering on our online Web Store is linked to our regular price, and this sale price is only offered on the email platform. It is also why it takes me some time to respond due to the deluge of orders that I sometimes get. We haven't reached the efficiency or volume of Amazon yet, and in this post-pandemic environment, simple operations sometimes prove difficult. Thank you in advance for your patience.

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