2015 Robert Mondavi Spotlight Collection Oak Knoll Cabernet Sauvignon

The Robert Mondavi Winery is the best known winery in California, and with good reason. The late Robert Mondavi, who died in 2008, was Napa Valley’s most passionate ambassador and the maker of some of the valley’s very best wines. His Italian immigrant parents moved from Minnesota to Napa Valley to grow fruit, and by the 1960s they owned and operated the Charles Krug Winery. But after a feud with his brother and mother in 1966, when Robert was already in his 50s, Robert left the Krug winery and struck out on his own. He was determined to make fine wines – not the jug wines California was mostly known for at the time – and by the 1970s his Cabernet Sauvignons were impressing connoisseurs in the U.S. and Europe. Today the winery is no longer owned by the Mondavi family, though its wines continue to win high praise. Robert Mondavi Winery owns 1,540 acres in Napa Valley and its premiere wines are Cabernet Sauvignon Reserve Napa Valley and Cabernet Sauvignon To Kalon Reserve.

Oak Knoll AVA is one of Napa Valley’s newest appellations, having received that status in 2004. Located on the southern end of Napa Valley, the appellation is close to San Pablo Bay and therefore relatively cool. Of the 8,300 acres within the appellation, 4,150 are vineyards. The principal grapes grown are Merlot, Chardonnay, Cabernet Sauvignon, Sauvignon Blanc, Pinot Noir and Riesling. Locals like to call Oak Knoll “the sweet spot” thanks to its location between the San Pablo Bay and its maritime climate and the much hotter climate of Napa Valley’s floor.

One of the most widely grown grape varieties, it can be found in nearly every wine growing region. A cross between Cabernet Franc and Sauvignon Blanc. It’s a hardy vine that produces a full-bodied wine with high tannins and great aging potential.