Saturday Night – Great Expectations – Part 2

Click here for Part 1

 

The 2007 Robert Mondavi “Private Reserve” Cabernet Sauvignon also caught me off guard but for different reasons.  The nose on it was also huge with black licorice, ripe tomato, green pepper and dark chocolate.  Tasting the wine on its own I was floored by how chalky/tannic it was; I found it almost undrinkable on its own.  Tasting the wine with the food, especially with the rare to medium rare beef, wow was it good.  Raspberry and rich dark chocolate flavours with a big, bold mouth feel and a finish that lingered forever.  The alcohol was listed at 16% which is very high for a cab but it certainly didn’t come across as hot.  This wine is still very young but with 5 years or more of cellaring this wine will be stunning.  I have two more bottles of it on the rack and am looking forward to trying them in 5 and 10 years down the road.

 

Here is the group rating for the wine – Mark -94, Chris -90, Kathy -88, Jan -89, Overall – 90.25.

Here is the LCBO information on the wine –

ROBERT MONDAVI RESERVE CABERNET SAUVIGNON 2007

VINTAGES 670463
750 mL bottle
Price: $ 139.95
Made in: California, USA
By: Icon Estates
Release Date: Feb 4, 2012
Wine, Red Wine
14.0% Alcohol/Vol.
Varietal: Cabernet Sauvignon
Sweetness Descriptor: XD - Extra Dry

Description - James Laube of the Wine Spectator gave this wine a rating of 95, and designated it as a Collectible. (Sept. 30, 2010) .

Tasting Note - The full-bodied, powerful, pure 2007 Cabernet Sauvignon Reserve is another outstanding effort revealing notes of spring flowers, toasty oak, creme de cassis, licorice, and graphite. One would have to go back to the 1990, 1991, 2001, or 2002 to find a Mondavi Cabernet Sauvignon Reserve this impressive. The 2007 should evolve for 20-25 years. Score - 95+. (Robert Parker Jr., erobertparker.com, Dec. 2009)

As you can see there is a big difference between Kathy and my ratings (88 vs. 94).  Kathy is judging the wine on its merits right now, whereas mine is taking in how good I think this wine will be in five to ten years.

For dessert I picked up a New York style cheesecake cake.  I assumed that this was a cheesecake but it was actually a dark chocolate cake with layers of chocolate cheese cake between layers of cake.  This was a bit disappointing but the cake itself was very good as it was incredibly rich and moist.  The Insignia actually ended up being the better pairing with the dessert whereas the Mondavi was the better one with the meal.

It was a real shame that Mick and Amy couldn’t make it as I really believe Mick would have fallen in love with the 2007 Mondavi.  On the upside, I know Mick and Amy have 2 bottles of it in there cellar like I do and will get to try it eventually.  I would like to thank Chris and Jan for their great company and I enjoyed the evening very much.  I would also like to thank Chris for taking photos for this blog and Jan for taking notes on the wines.

Cheers!

Mark