Robert Mondavi, 1913 -2008
Wine lovers mourn the passing of Robert Mondavi this week at age 94. He is partly responsible for helping California wines attain their high stature in the world of wine.
He helped make Chardonnay America’s most popular white wine. He gave UC Davis $35 million to establish the Robert Mondavi Institute for Wine and Food Science and a performing arts center.
I am now going to mention the last Mondavi Reserve Cabernet that the family produced, the lovely 2004. A very impressive Cabernet in every way.
Before Mr. Mondavi’s passing, I had planned to open discussion about the opinion letter written by writer Alice Feiring and published in the Los Angeles Times. This is a quote: “Today’s California wines are overblown, over-alcoholed, over-oaked, overpriced and over-manipulated”. This article took up a third of a page, more than some political commentary. And in the Food section of last weeks Times, three books about wine are reviewed, among them her book: The Battle for Wine and Love or How I Saved the World From Parkerization. Everyone has an opinion and we would love to hear yours!
I would describe my own palate as varied. I constantly try new wines. More and more I am becoming a big Paso Robles fan. The Zinfandels from Paso are wonderful, big, jammy reds with gorgeous aromas. Brochelle Vinyards and Tobin James “ James Gang Reserve” are a few of my current faves. I have a soft spot for well made German wines among them Dr. Loosen Rieslings both Spatlese and Auslese. German wines are usually bottled at 7-8 percent alcohol and are just lovely to sip on a hot day. We have now a number of lovely Spanish wines among them Altos de Luzon, a Tempranillo-Cabernet blend. It is a luscious New World style red, dry and fruit forward, no dirty tasting wine here. I have started to re-discover wines from Portugal. I bought a simple Vinho Verde from Alianca. This dry white tastes a bit like a nice Pinot Grigio, crisp acidity made to be drunk with Seafood! Priced under $10. I have been tasting and purchasing several dry Rose’s from France, Australia, California and a little gem from Portugal, Casa Mendes, it retails for under $5 and it’s clean and dry! We now have back in stock 2 of our favorite reds: Poppy Pinot Noir and Ehrhardt Petite Sirah. Recently tasted and purchased, 2 unoaked Chardonnays: Sierra Vista from El Dorado County and Gum Bear from Australia. A nice alternative to the mass of oaky whites out there. Unoaked Chardonnay is (in my opinion) fantastic with Sushi and Sashimi. They have some similarities to fine cold Sake, especially in the nose.
Till next time,
Victor the Wine Guy at All Corked Up