For the main course I did Beef Oscar (grilled beef tenderloin topped with grilled shrimp and Béarnaise sauce) with sides of yellow beans and baby potatoes. I paired this with a 2004 Robert Mondavi "Napa Valley" Cabernet Sauvignon.
The nose on the wine was big with aromas of cherry, tobacco, black pepper, blackberry, cedar, eucalyptus and coffee. Tasting the wine, flavours of dark raspberry, eucalyptus and coffee dominate the wine. The structure on this wine was great with super fine tannin, good acidity and enough fruit to easily balance out the alcohol levels. The wine wasn’t that complex but it was smooth and easy drink and made a very good pairing with the meal. A very solid wine that was a joy to drink and I love how consistently good the Robert Mondavi "Napa Valley" Cabs have been year after year.
Here is the group rating for the wine - Mick – 89, Mark – 90 Kathy – 90, Amy – 90, Overall – 89.75.
Here is the LCBO information on the wine –
ROBERT MONDAVI CABERNET SAUVIGNON (V)
VINTAGES 255513750 mL bottle
Price $ 34.95
Made in: California, USA
By: Robert Mondavi Winery
Release Date: N/A
Wine, Red Wine
14.3% Alcohol/Vol.
Style: Full-bodied & Firm
Varietal: Cabernet Sauvignon
Sugar Content: 5 g/L
Sweetness Descriptor: XD - Extra Dry
*Note – It doesn’t list a year but I’m going to assume that it is probably 2010 and not the 2004 reviewed here.
The one key I find to the Robert Mondavi Napa Valley Cabs is to put them down for a few years and you will be rewarded with a much smoother and refined wine. If it is the 2010, I would buy it but hold off drinking it until sometime after 2018.
For dessert I picked a La Rocca chocolate marble truffle cake for dessert. I liked the dessert but the vanilla layer in the cake caused the Mondavi to get funky at times. The Mondavi was a much better pairing with the beef than with the dessert.
It would be nice to do Cristal and higher end French Bordeaux wines every weekend but the economics are against me doing that anytime soon. On the other hand, we had two very nice wines at an eighth of the price of our New Year wines and I certainly didn’t feel like we were suffering too badly J
Cheers!
Mark
No comments:
Post a Comment