There are many memorable people who have walked across the pages of history and left an indelible mark. As long as man exists, these people will never be forgotten. Aristotle, Socrates, Julius Caesar, Galileo, Einstein, Napoleon, Henry Ford and so many more.
The wine industry has its memorable names too. People who have changed winemaking dramatically include Dom Perignon, Louis Pasteur and Baron de Rothschild. In our time, there is Robert Mondavi.
Mondavi started in the wine business as a member of the family that bought the Charles Krug Winery. While learning about wine, Mondavi traveled abroad and studied the way wine was made in Europe. Returning to the U.S., he tried to implement some of the techniques that he had learned overseas to the wines that his family made in America.
Mondavi believed that the grapes grown in the U.S. were as good as or even better than those grown overseas. The family was a bit recalcitrant about adopting his untried suggestions, so Mondavi left Krug.
Mondavi subsequently went off on his own and founded the Robert Mondavi Winery, where he developed and refined the techniques that would eventually raise American wines from mediocre to the world-class products they are today. To make a very long story short, Mondavi cast a new face on American winemaking.
Mondavi is no longer with us, but it is arguable that his impact on the wine industry is equally as momentous as were the contributions of Sir Isaac Newton to physics. The winery is still in operation and is still producing some of the most outstanding wines coming out of California.
Robert Mondavi 2010 Napa Valley Carneros Pinot Noir Reserve ($27)The conditions in the Carneros district of the Napa Valley proved it to be the perfect spot to grow the cooler climate loving pinot noir and chardonnay grapes.
This is the location personally selected by Mondavi because it closely resembles the climate and soil of the Burgundy region of France, where those grapes thrive.
As one might expect, this wine presents a dark ruby color which heralds an impressive aroma that stresses blackberry, nutmeg, raspberry and black fruit interwoven with espresso, oak and the very rare cedar. These augment the rich, velvety and polished flavor and then continues on to the finish.
This is not a wine to be lightly passed off; it is a magnificent expression of the pinot noir grape and the winemaking legacy of Mondavi.
As a side note, this is definitely a wine to set aside for three to five years. While it is enjoyable right now, it will improve dramatically with a few years behind it.
Robert Mondavi Napa Valley Chardonnay ($20)The grapes for this wine were chosen from selected vineyards in Napa Valley with the lions share coming from the cooler Carneros distract.
Chardonnay grapes grown in cooler regions result in an elevated acid content and a delightful herbaceous quality. Warmer vineyard grapes add tropical fruit flavors, while also softening the acid.
The Robert Mondavi Napa Valley Chardonnay is a wine that exhibits all of the characteristics of a classically styled wine, while also presenting more than enough of the fresh fruit flavors to mark it as a true California wine.
The wine seems to explode with the flavors and aromas of green apples and pears, with a suggestion of citrus in the background. There also is a pleasant under-flavor of oak, which when combined with a near-perfect acid level, results in a wine of classical dimensions.
The finish exhibits the much sought after buttery feel in the mouth, the sign of a better chardonnay.
Contrary to the case with most white wines, this wine will gain greater depth with just a bit of bottle aging.
Nixa resident Bennet Bodenstein is a wine columnist and helps manage ArticlesOnWine.com with his wife, Sheila. He can be reached at frojhe@suddenlink.net.
