2006 Michael Mondavi M

Michael Mondavi Family was founded by Michael Mondavi, who is a son of the late and legendary Robert Mondavi. In 1999 Michael Mondavi purchased land in the Atlas Peak appellation and began making wine in collaboration with his wife, son and daughter. The estate consists of two premier vineyards, the 15-acre Amino Vineyard in Atlas Peak, and the 95-acre Oso Vineyards located between Ink Grade and Howell Mountain. Michael Mondavi Family makes a range of wines from Cabernet Sauvignon and Petite Sirah to Chardonnay and Fumé Blanc. The flagship wine is M by Michael Mondavi, a Cabernet Sauvignon.

Napa Valley AVA is the most famous winemaking region in the United States and one of the most prestigious in the world. With nearly 43,000 acres of vineyards and more than 300 wineries, it is the heart of fine wine production in the United States. Winemaking started in Napa in 1838 when George C. Yount planted grapes and began producing wine commercially. Other winemaking pioneers followed in the late 19th century, including the founders of Charles Krug, Schramsberg, Inglenook and Beaulieu Vineyards. An infestation of phylloxera, an insect that attacks vine roots, and the onset of Prohibition nearly wiped out the nascent Napa wine industry in the early 20th century. But by the late 1950s and early 1960s Robert Mondavi and other visionaries were producing quality wines easily distinguishable from the mass-produced jug wines made in California’s Central Valley. Napa Valley’s AVA was established in 1983, and today there are 16 sub-appellations within the Napa Valley AVA. Many grapes grow well in Napa’s Mediterranean climate, but the region is best known for Cabernet Sauvignon. Chardonnay is also very successfully cultivated, and about 30% of the AVA’s acreage is planted to white grapes, with the majority of those grapes being Chardonnay,