Oakville District Napa Valley
Oakville AVA
Climate: Moderately warm, with temperatures commonly in the mid-90°F (34-35.5°C) range in high summer, but also still strongly affected by night and early morning fog, which helps keep acidity levels good. East side of the AVA receives warmer afternoon sun.
Elevation: 130 - 1000 feet (40 to 305 m).
Rainfall: 35 inches (87.5 cm) annually.
Soils: Primarily sedimentary gravelly alluvial loams on the western side, with more volcanic but heavier soils on the eastern side. Low to moderate fertility and fairly deep, with average water retention.
Principal varieties & characteristics: Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc and Merlot: Ripe currant and mint flavors, rich texture and full, firm structure tempered by rich fruit. Sauvignon Blanc: Full, steely, yet very fleshy.
Robert Mondavi Winery To Kalon Vineyard
Robert Mondavi & The Fumé Blanc Story
Robert Mondavi opened the doors to his winery in the Oakville sub-AVA of Napa Valley in 1966. In 1968, he released his now world-famous Fumé Blanc.
The Fumé Blanc story started with one of Mondavi’s growers providing the winery with a fine crop of Sauvignon Blanc, and for a while, he puzzled over what to do with it. At the time, much of the Sauvignon Blanc being made in America was of poor quality. Robert was undaunted. He knew that the Sauvignon Blancs of the Loire Valley, such as Sancerre and Pouilly-Fumé, as well as the term blanc fumé, had charmed people. So, Robert Mondavi took the words blanc fumé, flipped them, and labeled his bottles of Sauvignon Blanc “Fumé Blanc” to distinguish his dry, barrel-fermented and barrel-aged Sauvignon Blancs from the sweeter styles coming out of Napa in the 1960s.
It is said that the idea of using the word “Fumé” came to him while watching the fog roll off the Mayacamas Mountains and blanket the To Kalon Vineyard, which serves as the backdrop to his winery.
As one drives into the winery, there are two small display vineyards to the left and right where guests can roam freely among the vines. In front of the winery stands a large statue of St. Francis, the patron saint of ecologists. St. Francis is said to have had a boundless love for animals and nature. Behind the statue is a water fountain and two more works of art: a statue of Mr. Mondavi’s head and a bear statue that decorates the front of the winery.
The architecture of the winery is a beautiful Spanish Mission-style building, which ties into California’s grape-growing history and the Spanish missionaries who brought the first grape cuttings to California to make sacramental wine for the church.
The entrance is a vast archway with no doors, welcoming anyone who wishes to walk in and take in the beautiful scenery. As one walks through the archway, a beautiful lawn for sitting and basking in the warm Napa sun stretches across about half an acre. Directly behind it is the To Kalon Vineyard, meaning “the highest beauty” in Greek. The vineyard was originally named and planted by a gentleman named Hamlton Walker Crabb, an early settler in Napa who began planting and experimenting with hundreds of different cultivars in the late 1860s.
The backdrop of the To Kalon Vineyard is the stunning, lush, green Mayacamas Mountains, making the wine-tasting experience here even more picturesque.
To the left of the entrance is the tasting room, and to the right is the Reserve tasting room. Customers are free to walk into either tasting room without a reservation.
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| There are many wonderful tours on offer at the winery. The Robert Mondavi Winery prides itself on its educational tours, and the educators do a superb job at demystifying wine and making the tasting experience lots of fun. |
A walk-through of the Signature tour route
The tour starts off with an overview of the history of the Robert Mondavi Winery and how the winery came about, then a wine educator takes you through a portion of Napa's famed
To Kalon Vineyard while explaining To Kalon's soils, climatic conditions, varieties being grown here, what is going on in the vineyard currently, and the improvement of quality with vineyard management.
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The view of a portion of the To Kalon Vineyard from the top of the cellar.
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The fermentation cellar |
These tanks are used for fermenting Mondavi's finest reds; the cellar is set up to use gravity flow to give extra special care to the finished product.
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| The basket press |
The 1st year barrel aging room
All 1,300 of these 59gal/225liter barrels are new French oak. In this process, the wine is going through malolactic fermentation a process where tart malic acid changes in wine to softer, creamier lactic acid through the introduction of Lactobacillus strains 'a safe bacterium. The wine will sit in these barrels for about 9 months, absorbing toasty and oaky flavors from the toasted oak while also softening out its harsh tannins
The 2nd year barrel ageing room
After these barrels spend a little under a year in the 1st year barrel ageing room, they are then moved a level up in the cellar where the blending process begins (different grape varieties or the same, sourced from different blocks in the To Kalon Vineyard or from Mondavi's acreage in Wappo Hill of the Stag's Leap District, or the sub-AVA Los Carneros. The Robert Mondavi Winery works with 8 different cooperages from France, and these barrels have toasting levels that range from medium, medium+, to high. The vineyard is a spice box, and the barrel rooms are spice racks; all of these works of art will eventually be turned into a masterpiece in the form of a bottle of wine.
Curious about oak? Check out Wine Folly's article about wine and oak barrels
Cork Bark
The last 30 minutes of the tour are spent in a private room doing a tasting that teaches one how to excite the senses when it comes to wine tasting.
The art of seeing, swirling, smelling, and sipping the wine is taught in a non-snobbish way; guests are left with an extensive amount of knowledge and wine tricks, and the humor provided by the wine educator is nothing less than contagious =)
The tour concludes in the LaMarche gift shop, 'the area in Italy where Robert Mondavi's father, Cesar, and mother, Rosa Mondavi, were originally from.' The tour guide stays to answer any further questions guests may have.
The gift shop is one of the most beautiful I have ever been into! As you walk in, there is a huge Spring flower centerpiece accompanied by a number of trinkets such as wine openers, decanters, wine glasses, and picnic baskets. To the right-hand side of the shop, there are two separate tables, one showcasing various lavender products such as dried lavender, soap, and lavender-decorated plates; the other table displays different honey products such as cookbooks for working with honey, honeycomb, honey dippers, and jars for storing honey. All the edible and soap products available here are from local Napa producers. There is also a wall full of various cookbooks as well as a vast number of educational wine books, wine maps, and winery clothing customers can purchase.
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The best soap of all time! My favorite Soapignon Blanc =D |
There is a wonderful array of corkscrews available in the gift shop, but this one and the Ah-So are my favorites.
The library wall where one can do a '5 decades tasting'
The tasting fee varies depending on which flight of wines the customer would like to try. There are four flights available, which reflect the exceptional quality and character of Robert Mondavi’s Napa Valley vineyards. These wines are exclusive to the winery and cannot be found elsewhere:
Flights:
Crisp & Refreshing $25: 2015 Stags Leap Sauvignon Blanc, 2013 Unoaked Chardonnay, 2013 Oakville Fumé Blanc, and the 2015 Spotlight Rosé.
Napa Appellations $30: 2014 Oakville Fumé Blanc, 2013 Carneros Chardonnay, 2013 BDX Oakville, 2012 Stags Leap Cabernet Sauvignon
Rich Reds $40: 2014 PNX ‘Pinot Noir Experiment’, 2012 Momentum, 2014 Maestro, 2012 Cabernet Sauvignon Reserve
Sweet Seduction $20: 2014 Moscato D’Oro, 2002 Sauvignon Blanc Botrytis
The I-Block in To Kalon Vineyard
These Sauvignon Blanc vines were planted in 1945 and are said to be the oldest Sauvignon Blanc vines in all of North America
Bush-trained and dry-farmed, only 5 acres remain in the historic To Kalon Vineyard in Oakville, Napa Valley
Ménage à Trois
Atmosphere: Hidden inside a cute little hobbit house lies the Ménage à Trois tasting room; their wines are known for being an approachable blend of 3 different grape varieties.
Service: Servers were polite and attentive.
Tasting Tools: Good glasses. Spit buckets handy. Water nearby. No crackers. Great lighting.
Wine Availability: Sold at the tasting room, supermarkets, and their website.
Cost: $10 flight, buy 3 bottles get 1 tasting complimentary.
Picnic Prospects: Tranquil grounds with shaded patio space to sip wine on.
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