This is aging nicely and is not overdone at all. In fact, it's fairly Bordeaux-like in character with a leaner profile than most Napa Cabs and an ethereal texture with lots of freshness. I definitely get the flavors of Napa earth and berry fruit but there are also notes of lead pencil and dark minerals. The tannins needed to soften a bit in a decanter but after an hour, the wine flowed over the tongue like silk. Well done and this should last. At We-Ko-Pa Embers restaurant which has a great wine list with excellent prices - certainly a rarity these days.
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Drunk on the evening of my retirement from work. Better than my last bottle for sure. Has a nice chocolatey nuance to it with great pretty dark ruby with red legs. Nose also has nice cherry fruit almost like chocolate covered cherries. I would have to say this has hit its drinking stride at 11 years old, but should last many more. A very pretty, elegant wine, a bit of leather, a bit of chocolate nib red current. Cocoa. Honestly, better than I hoped it would be. 5-13-16-9: 93/100.
A nice aged ToKalon but I expected a bit more. On the nose it’s strong but on the pallet it lacks the same fruit intensity. Age has helped the tannin settle. All in all, pretty good drinking.
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Opened 1 hour prior then decanted for 4 hours then re-bottled and bought to dinner. Dark fruits, some cedar shavings, slight vanilla tones on a smooth finish. Good, should i say old school style of CA Cab for those not looking for the fruit bomb style. Went well with rack of lamb chops Christmas Eve.
My first To Kalon. Beautiful nose of smoke, berries, and vanilla. Very smmmoth yet chewey, supple, and silky palate of berries, vanilla, and damp earth.
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Opened for a few hours then recorked and took it to my club where it was decanted through a filter. Dark fruit on the nose. The palate was dark berries, cherry, cassis, tree bark and spices. The finish was long. A really nice bottle of wine. Served with a grilled pork chop.
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The evolution of this wine from the first hour to the end of the evening is something to be appreciated. Spectacular as I write these notes at hour 4&5 and getting better. At the end of this evening it's everything I had hoped for. Vibrant fruits, youthful tannins. This elegant wine is just getting started.
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Opened and let sit for two hours. Dark fruit on the nose. The palate is blackberry, dark plums, oak, dried leaves, pepper and a hint of cassis which comes out of the finish which definitely has some length to it. First time I am trying one of these wines and this wine has years to go. Served with grilled filet mignon and roasted cauliflower.
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Tasted alongside the 2012 version. Initialled decanted for 1-1.5 hrs. While the nose showed promise with Dutch liquorice and a tarry balsamic reduction the wine still has a disconcerting amount of non-integrated tannins. Very rough and short finish. Did open up through the evening and pairing with med-rare striploin with sautéed mushrooms did help smooth out the tannic beast. However, QPR-wise this wine is a disappointment. At this price, I expect either to be wowed out of the gate or guardedly impressed with the future potential of the wine. This did neither. I’m burying our last bottles and will dig out a few years from now and see if cellar alchemy prevails.
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Opened, decanted, started drinking right away. Initial impression was that it needed air and I was right. 30 minutes later it was singing with my steak. It’s a very nice wine and is in the class cab style. My first to-kalon wine, won’t be my last.
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Light sediment. Decanted for ~4 hours. Drank very well - smooth and robust. Fruit still coming through, with some leather. Tannins maybe a little strong on finish.
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Popped and poured. Deeply, deeply colored, mostly purple, but surprisingly light on its feet, stylish, feminine, and elegant. A polished lady, but seemingly harboring some seriously powerful black fruit behind its pretty facade. Proverbial iron fist in velvet glove. In my judgment, this is a baby, that should burst forth in years to come to reveal a boatload of dark fruit and tannin. Should last for several decades. 5-12-17-9: 93/100.
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Deep opaque cranberry purple. Big woodsy nose of oak, cedar, cigar and tart blackberries. Taste is similar but more earthy and leathery. Fruit is tart. Tannins are nicely integrated but still heavy acidity and high alcohol. Full bodied. About 92.
Still a bit tight & muted. Decanted & sampled over four plus hour evening. Really stretched itself in hour four. Dark red, dried fruit with bitter cocoa and green olive. Paired with grilled sirloin roasted beet salad. Not a stunner however and for the price one can buy two bottles of John Anthony or Aonair and smile all night long. Will try again in another year.
Decanted and poured. Deep purple to almost black color in the center. Remarkable absence of any trace of sediment. Black fruit with a fresh green (pine?) element on the nose. On the palate, I would agree with reviewers who noted the absence of a big fruit profile. It's there, maybe blackberry, but what are often secondary flavors are turned up here, milk chocolate, eucalyptus, pepper, cedar. Full bodied and a bit drying and grippy on the finish. All that said, I liked it. For this location and vintage, it strikes me as unconventional and to use a baseball analogy "pitches backward," but it's relatively well in balance and a pleasant sensory experience.
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Popped 'n poured at a NYC Steakhouse, were we dined outside. Not the best conditions for the wine to show its best, as it was about 50/55 degrees outside, so the wine never opened up the way it normally might at room temperature. That said, a very enjoyable wine. I'm going to skip giving it a number as the conditions make it tough to decide if its a 91, 96 or anything in-between that wine.
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Wine on the River (Fox River, McHenry County): Off the list at Bold Fare ($213), popped and poured. Opaque purple garnet color. Gorgeous perfume of violet, raspberry, cassis, red plum and spice. Full-bodied and still quite firm (expectedly so), showing an abundance of black fruit to go along with wood spice and blue fruit tones. As noted, tannins are firm but very finely knit. Well-balanced. I am a fan of the Mondavi style and would hold this for another five+ years at least and expect that it will reward patience.
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Bay Area Redux - Anniversary trip 2019; 6/26/2019-6/29/2019 (Napa, Sonoma, and points in between): Tasted along with several other Mondavi wines which just did not resonate (PNX, Momentum, and Maestro). This Cab reserve, on the other hand, was good - deep purple-crimson, with a vanilla-wood note on the nose. Cedar, blackberry. Firm tannins but good fruit structure and acid underneath. Needs a lot of time but good stuff.
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Color of dark red. Scents of currant and red fruit. Tastes consistent with scents and with medium acidity, quite dry with a hefty amount of tannins. Needs more time.
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Super exquisite in terms of its refined structure...lot of dark fruit and squid ink...but I still miss these Mondavis from the 90s that were more mossy and had more terroir!
Atypical for the vintage, restrained with dried herb and black pepper, lots of Cabernet franc influence, alongside cassis and graphite. Elegant structure with fine tannin. You get a hint of cedar on the finish.
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Ready to drink after an hour of decanting. Lots of things going on here, including dark fruit. Such a good nose on this as you can smell the last 5 years of that earthy fruit sitting there
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Decant for 30 mins. Should have left longer as it continued to open up while drinking. Dark fruit and violets on the nose. Nice representation of To Kalon and great QPR. Good structure and tannins. Medium finish. Great with steaks.
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92-93 gave a 93 because this wine is still young and may exceed that rating in time. I opened a bottle a year ago and didn’t enjoy as much as today. Can’t wait to see how it evolves.
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Opened in the bottle for 3 hours. At this stage it has pretty much everything you’d expect from To Kalon cab with the exception of intense fruit. I suspect that will come with 5+ years along with a couple more points.
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A more structured and serious effort. Cassis, chocolate, and a touch of cedar in all in a dense and slightly dower package. Better tannin structure, but would prefer a little more lift.
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Here I found a more restrained example, with crushed blackberry offset by minerals, earth dried herbs, and hints of animal musk. On the palate, silky textures ushered in notes of ripe blackberry, currant, sweet spice and dark inner florals. Fine tannin made itself known throughout the structured finish with lingering dark fruits and sweet herbal tones. It’s a balanced and structured wine with loads of potential for the cellar.
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Tasted in a six bottle premium Napa flight. Medium compared to the rest, definitely in the bottom half. Very dark, purple, almost gravelly color. Subtle hints of red fruit coming through, perhaps hints of green leaves also (not my favorite). Simple would best describe the taste, nothing inherently bad about it, but really nothing taste wise that caught my attention. I was definitely expecting more flavor to be going on, as you let it develop subtle red fruit does start to come through, this is also coupled with subtle acidity into the finish. However, I suppose for this price point of To Kalon, theirs a reason its drastically cheaper then any of the other To Kalon vineyard wines that come from the neighboring and competing Beckstoffer Vineyards. All in all a let down at this price point, however an hour in it starts to build to something slightly more praiseworthy.
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Opaque inky purple color. Decanted for an hour, and finally expressed something at the end. Tannic, dry, and closed, with some dark fruit and herb. Will not open another for several years.
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This is a beauty. It has richness, perfectly ripe, dark red fruits, lush, round, polished tannins and the structure to age for 2-3 decades. Still young, yet everything is so soft, it is already far too easy to enjoy, and the best is yet come. That is, if you can wait for at least a decade or more.
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Very succulent extracted cab. All fruit from To Kalon is awesome and this is rich and generous, but not hmmm as refined as one may like. 93 would be too generous but fruit quality and drinkability is a touch there. Could also have more personality. There's a generic-ness to its greatness.
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i wanted more. BUT The wine looks purple colored. There is moderate sediment in the bottle. It smells like blackberry and walnut. HIGH TANNINS, smokey, concentrated cranberry
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Grabbed this from the wine list at Chops Grille, great price at $128.00 ($101.00 with drinks package) a bottle. Deep purplish ruby red. Iron on the attack of the nose when the wine was cold, needed to warm up. Layered of vanilla, cinnamon, black fruits, dark red berries and a touch floral. Heavy tannins (8.5/10) with a full body. Dark palate with raspberries, black cherries, herbs and spices. Crushed dark gravel in the long finish. Needs a long decant or a year or two in bottle to open up. Drink from 2018 till 2032.
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A dense and tart Cabernet that needs another few years to open up. Dark purple in color, medium in body, nose of black cherry, graphite, and lavender. Tastes of blueberry, raspberry, leather, and cedar, with a sour and tannic finish. Blend of 88% Cabernet Sauvignon, 8% Cabernet Franc, and 4% Petit Verdot. 15% alcohol. Wait another few years to try.
I'm thinking this was just in an awkward place - it tasted a bit tart (almost under-ripe) to me, but I think that will be solved with time. I'm sure the 50th anniversary made some critics nostalgic, and time will tell if they're right about this being exceptional. Right now, it's good - but not great.
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Really nice. Balanced. More old world but still definitely California. An often overlooked wine in this day and age but most of it still comes from To Kalon vineyard.
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Dark ruby color. Blackberry, cassis, and licorice with a slight vegetal note. It's a bit tight and acidic at this point in its development and will need more time to realize the full potential of the vineyard and vintage.
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At the winery. Lot more of rich sweet fruit and oak aromas. Round, balanced with ripe tannin and with a great inner fruit core. Long balanced finish. Despite the warm year, no heat showing. Needs time, don't waste it too early on. All these Estate To Kalon reserves are obviously of very high caliber. Much more Bordeaux like than I had expected. 94-95p
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Tasted at the winery. Clear, deep ruby. Blackcurrant, cedar oak, dark cherry. Faint green herbs. High acidity, full body, medium(+) rather grippy tannins, medium(+) finish. Young. Forward tannins. The '12 was more rounded and demonstrative. Regardless, this should improve with a few more years. I do regret that my overall impression is that the Mondavi To Kalon generally do not quite match up to the Beckstoffer To Kalon (broadly speaking). Maybe that's why the fellow can get away with charging such risible prices for his grapes!
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Another heavy hitter from a lineup spanning four decades of Napa Cabs. The 2013 Robert Mondavi To Kalon Vineyard Reserve Cabernet is still quite primary. It's opaque, with a bold magenta rim. Structurally, opulent—the core furnished with juicy black fruit, ripe, glossy tannins and a hint of how it will evolve—a palate pleasing melange of anise, mocha, Madagascar vanilla, black pepper, and savory tones. There is more everything packed into it, like an overcrowded suitcase, something this writer knows about.
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Deep ruby colour. The nose shows medium+ intensity aromas of ripe dark cherries, black currants, liquorice, black olives, cinnamon and hints of lavender.
It is dry in the mouth with a medium acidity. It has high coarse tannins and a high well-integrated alcohol. It is full-bodied with pronounced intensity flavours. The finish is long.
It is a very good quality wine. It has a lingering finish and a tasty fruit concentration that balances quite well the high alcohol strength. The tannins are not well-resolved yet, but it's a question of time. It lacks some complexity as well, but it has potential to develop more interesting tertiary aromas with some years of bottle ageing.
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Bright purple/ruby color. Nose was rich; dark fruits, blackberry. Palate was dark and blue fruits, cassis, baking spice, anise. Some green notes and floral on mid palate.
More accessible than I thought, but still very tannic and backward. Would revisit in 5 years, this will probably be hitting stride in about 10 years...hard to rate at this point, long life ahead of it...
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Rather soft fruit on the nose, dominated by darker fruit like blueberries, but also with clear nots of toasted oak that encapsulates the nose. Denser fruit on the palate but also an inkiness and salt, and in the finish there is some bitterness from oak. The wine start rather soft on the nose but it get more sharp with acidity and inkiness along the way. The wine has some elegance but unfortunately the oak does not give it a chance to shine.
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MW Institute Sit Down Tasting 2012/2013 Cabernet Sauvignon Panel, nose of cranberry, black cherry, blackberry, opened for 45 minutes, my previous note the wine was open for 90 minutes, same on the palate, medium/big body, and a medium/long finish. Genevieve Janssens present.
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MW Institute Walk Around 2013 American Cabernet Tasting, nose of oak, blackberry, black cherry, dusty, forest floor, more of the same on the palate, big body, intensely concentrated, fairly closed on the nose and palate and the medium amount of soft tannins did not help tasting today.
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4/29/2024 - j30 Likes this wine: 93 Points
Excellent showing. Everything was balanced.
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3/18/2024 - dream Likes this wine: 93 Points
This is aging nicely and is not overdone at all. In fact, it's fairly Bordeaux-like in character with a leaner profile than most Napa Cabs and an ethereal texture with lots of freshness. I definitely get the flavors of Napa earth and berry fruit but there are also notes of lead pencil and dark minerals. The tannins needed to soften a bit in a decanter but after an hour, the wine flowed over the tongue like silk. Well done and this should last. At We-Ko-Pa Embers restaurant which has a great wine list with excellent prices - certainly a rarity these days.
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1/16/2024 - MicklethePickle Likes this wine: 93 Points
Drunk on the evening of my retirement from work. Better than my last bottle for sure. Has a nice chocolatey nuance to it with great pretty dark ruby with red legs. Nose also has nice cherry fruit almost like chocolate covered cherries. I would have to say this has hit its drinking stride at 11 years old, but should last many more. A very pretty, elegant wine, a bit of leather, a bit of chocolate nib red current. Cocoa. Honestly, better than I hoped it would be. 5-13-16-9: 93/100.
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1/7/2024 - JasonWino wrote: 93 Points
A nice aged ToKalon but I expected a bit more. On the nose it’s strong but on the pallet it lacks the same fruit intensity. Age has helped the tannin settle. All in all, pretty good drinking.
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12/29/2023 - j30 Likes this wine: 93 Points
Smooth, fruity, concentrated, although a bit terse. The wine is entering its early drinking window. No hurry to drink.
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12/26/2023 - buymoreredsdrinkmorewhites wrote:
Opened 1 hour prior then decanted for 4 hours then re-bottled and bought to dinner. Dark fruits, some cedar shavings, slight vanilla tones on a smooth finish. Good, should i say old school style of CA Cab for those not looking for the fruit bomb style. Went well with rack of lamb chops Christmas Eve.
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12/1/2023 - KTelaak_Buffalo Likes this wine: 94 Points
Still needs a solid decant. Best after 3-4 hours. Similar experience 10 months ago. Excellent wine!
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9/6/2023 - winecoffee wrote: 93 Points
My first To Kalon. Beautiful nose of smoke, berries, and vanilla. Very smmmoth yet chewey, supple, and silky palate of berries, vanilla, and damp
earth.
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6/26/2023 - gteran76 wrote: 90 Points
One hour opened and then 30 minutes decant.
It let me down, close and no expressive with a short finish.
I hope time fix this wine…
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5/12/2023 - Lord of the Bottles Likes this wine: 93 Points
Oakville AVA Tasting in London: Cassis and dark chocolate. Fresh. More concentrated if not quite as smooth as the '10. Seems way too young. 93
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4/28/2023 - markcic Likes this wine: 93 Points
Opened for a few hours then recorked and took it to my club where it was decanted through a filter. Dark fruit on the nose. The palate was dark berries, cherry, cassis, tree bark and spices. The finish was long. A really nice bottle of wine. Served with a grilled pork chop.
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3/31/2023 - j30 Likes this wine:
From memory. Still too young to drink. Dark and Brooding fruits.
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1/30/2023 - KTelaak_Buffalo Likes this wine: 94 Points
The evolution of this wine from the first hour to the end of the evening is something to be appreciated. Spectacular as I write these notes at hour 4&5 and getting better. At the end of this evening it's everything I had hoped for. Vibrant fruits, youthful tannins. This elegant wine is just getting started.
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12/9/2022 - markcic Likes this wine: 93 Points
Opened and let sit for two hours. Dark fruit on the nose. The palate is blackberry, dark plums, oak, dried leaves, pepper and a hint of cassis which comes out of the finish which definitely has some length to it. First time I am trying one of these wines and this wine has years to go. Served with grilled filet mignon and roasted cauliflower.
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11/19/2022 - Bobcat 31 Likes this wine: 92 Points
good bottle needed a multiple hour decant but worth the wait
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6/25/2022 - Canoehead wrote: 89 Points
Tasted alongside the 2012 version. Initialled decanted for 1-1.5 hrs. While the nose showed promise with Dutch liquorice and a tarry balsamic reduction the wine still has a disconcerting amount of non-integrated tannins. Very rough and short finish. Did open up through the evening and pairing with med-rare striploin with sautéed mushrooms did help smooth out the tannic beast. However, QPR-wise this wine is a disappointment. At this price, I expect either to be wowed out of the gate or guardedly impressed with the future potential of the wine. This did neither. I’m burying our last bottles and will dig out a few years from now and see if cellar alchemy prevails.
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6/9/2022 - Schmamo Likes this wine:
Opened, decanted, started drinking right away. Initial impression was that it needed air and I was right. 30 minutes later it was singing with my steak. It’s a very nice wine and is in the class cab style. My first to-kalon wine, won’t be my last.
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4/16/2022 - Bahloola Likes this wine: 92 Points
not a bad bottle of wine 2 hour decant light to medium sediment drank next to a uccilera 2010 brunello which outshone with a new york steak
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3/23/2022 - Brahning Likes this wine: 93 Points
Light sediment. Decanted for ~4 hours. Drank very well - smooth and robust. Fruit still coming through, with some leather. Tannins maybe a little strong on finish.
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3/12/2022 - Vince92673 Likes this wine: 93 Points
Decanted for an hour. Good but expected more from a To-Kalon vineyard wine.
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12/8/2021 - MicklethePickle Likes this wine: 93 Points
Popped and poured. Deeply, deeply colored, mostly purple, but surprisingly light on its feet, stylish, feminine, and elegant. A polished lady, but seemingly harboring some seriously powerful black fruit behind its pretty facade. Proverbial iron fist in velvet glove. In my judgment, this is a baby, that should burst forth in years to come to reveal a boatload of dark fruit and tannin. Should last for several decades. 5-12-17-9: 93/100.
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7/5/2021 - RockyII Likes this wine: 92 Points
Deep opaque cranberry purple. Big woodsy nose of oak, cedar, cigar and tart blackberries. Taste is similar but more earthy and leathery. Fruit is tart. Tannins are nicely integrated but still heavy acidity and high alcohol. Full bodied. About 92.
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4/13/2021 - Canoehead Likes this wine: 90 Points
Still a bit tight & muted. Decanted & sampled over four plus hour evening. Really stretched itself in hour four. Dark red, dried fruit with bitter cocoa and green olive. Paired with grilled sirloin roasted beet salad. Not a stunner however and for the price one can buy two bottles of John Anthony or Aonair and smile all night long. Will try again in another year.
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1/24/2021 - Sonoma-W Likes this wine: 93 Points
Wow -- rich, smooth, well integrated oak
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1/23/2021 - Deryck Likes this wine: 92 Points
Decanted for 2 hours; really enjoyed. See FOINZAP's review (Dec. 28, 2020); comments and tasting notes are right on.
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12/28/2020 - FoinZap Likes this wine: 93 Points
Decanted and poured. Deep purple to almost black color in the center. Remarkable absence of any trace of sediment. Black fruit with a fresh green (pine?) element on the nose. On the palate, I would agree with reviewers who noted the absence of a big fruit profile. It's there, maybe blackberry, but what are often secondary flavors are turned up here, milk chocolate, eucalyptus, pepper, cedar. Full bodied and a bit drying and grippy on the finish. All that said, I liked it. For this location and vintage, it strikes me as unconventional and to use a baseball analogy "pitches backward," but it's relatively well in balance and a pleasant sensory experience.
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11/13/2020 - SMHalps Likes this wine:
Popped 'n poured at a NYC Steakhouse, were we dined outside. Not the best conditions for the wine to show its best, as it was about 50/55 degrees outside, so the wine never opened up the way it normally might at room temperature. That said, a very enjoyable wine. I'm going to skip giving it a number as the conditions make it tough to decide if its a 91, 96 or anything in-between that wine.
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10/27/2020 - Charlie Jacklin wrote:
Entered twice
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9/19/2020 - AllRed wrote: 94 Points
Wine on the River (Fox River, McHenry County): Off the list at Bold Fare ($213), popped and poured. Opaque purple garnet color. Gorgeous perfume of violet, raspberry, cassis, red plum and spice. Full-bodied and still quite firm (expectedly so), showing an abundance of black fruit to go along with wood spice and blue fruit tones. As noted, tannins are firm but very finely knit. Well-balanced. I am a fan of the Mondavi style and would hold this for another five+ years at least and expect that it will reward patience.
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12/11/2019 - Berge65 Likes this wine:
3rd time opening a bottle from a case. Each time this wine gets better. I hope the trend continues.
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6/26/2019 - tak4 Likes this wine: 90 Points
Bay Area Redux - Anniversary trip 2019; 6/26/2019-6/29/2019 (Napa, Sonoma, and points in between): Tasted along with several other Mondavi wines which just did not resonate (PNX, Momentum, and Maestro). This Cab reserve, on the other hand, was good - deep purple-crimson, with a vanilla-wood note on the nose. Cedar, blackberry. Firm tannins but good fruit structure and acid underneath. Needs a lot of time but good stuff.
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6/22/2019 - dase13 wrote: 92 Points
Color of dark red. Scents of currant and red fruit. Tastes consistent with scents and with medium acidity, quite dry with a hefty amount of tannins. Needs more time.
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4/2/2019 - richshoes Likes this wine: 93 Points
Super exquisite in terms of its refined structure...lot of dark fruit and squid ink...but I still miss these Mondavis from the 90s that were more mossy and had more terroir!
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3/30/2019 - rlove wrote: 92 Points
Atypical for the vintage, restrained with dried herb and black pepper, lots of Cabernet franc influence, alongside cassis and graphite. Elegant structure with fine tannin. You get a hint of cedar on the finish.
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3/27/2019 - Cuellar's Cellar Likes this wine: 92 Points
Ready to drink after an hour of decanting. Lots of things going on here, including dark fruit. Such a good nose on this as you can smell the last 5 years of that earthy fruit sitting there
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3/12/2019 - WizardNeedsFood Likes this wine: 94 Points
Decant for 30 mins. Should have left longer as it continued to open up while drinking. Dark fruit and violets on the nose. Nice representation of To Kalon and great QPR. Good structure and tannins. Medium finish. Great with steaks.
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12/29/2018 - Berge65 Likes this wine: 93 Points
92-93 gave a 93 because this wine is still young and may exceed that rating in time. I opened a bottle a year ago and didn’t enjoy as much as today. Can’t wait to see how it evolves.
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7/29/2018 - MAXIMUM SATISFACTION wrote: 94 Points
Opened in the bottle for 3 hours. At this stage it has pretty much everything you’d expect from To Kalon cab with the exception of intense fruit. I suspect that will come with 5+ years along with a couple more points.
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6/16/2018 - yossarian.livez wrote: 88 Points
A more structured and serious effort. Cassis, chocolate, and a touch of cedar in all in a dense and slightly dower package. Better tannin structure, but would prefer a little more lift.
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6/9/2018 - BigBoy_Sonoma Likes this wine: 90 Points
Pretty tannic... Black fruit, pepper, herbal notes, hints of cassis, cedar and smokey oak. A-
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5/19/2018 - landrykm Likes this wine: 94 Points
Wonderful compliment to a great rib eye grilled to perfection. Full bodied with big flavors.
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5/11/2018 - Eric Guido Likes this wine: 94 Points
Here I found a more restrained example, with crushed blackberry offset by minerals, earth dried herbs, and hints of animal musk. On the palate, silky textures ushered in notes of ripe blackberry, currant, sweet spice and dark inner florals. Fine tannin made itself known throughout the structured finish with lingering dark fruits and sweet herbal tones. It’s a balanced and structured wine with loads of potential for the cellar.
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2/20/2018 - J.S Likes this wine: 93 Points
Tasted in a six bottle premium Napa flight.
Medium compared to the rest, definitely in the bottom half.
Very dark, purple, almost gravelly color. Subtle hints of red fruit coming through, perhaps hints of green leaves also (not my favorite).
Simple would best describe the taste, nothing inherently bad about it, but really nothing taste wise that caught my attention. I was definitely expecting more flavor to be going on, as you let it develop subtle red fruit does start to come through, this is also coupled with subtle acidity into the finish. However, I suppose for this price point of To Kalon, theirs a reason its drastically cheaper then any of the other To Kalon vineyard wines that come from the neighboring and competing Beckstoffer Vineyards.
All in all a let down at this price point, however an hour in it starts to build to something slightly more praiseworthy.
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2/6/2018 - KeithSurg wrote: 88 Points
Opaque inky purple color. Decanted for an hour, and finally expressed something at the end. Tannic, dry, and closed, with some dark fruit and herb. Will not open another for several years.
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12/14/2017 - Jeff Leve wrote: 94 Points
This is a beauty. It has richness, perfectly ripe, dark red fruits, lush, round, polished tannins and the structure to age for 2-3 decades. Still young, yet everything is so soft, it is already far too easy to enjoy, and the best is yet come. That is, if you can wait for at least a decade or more.
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12/8/2017 - SlimShaney wrote: 92 Points
Very succulent extracted cab. All fruit from To Kalon is awesome and this is rich and generous, but not hmmm as refined as one may like. 93 would be too generous but fruit quality and drinkability is a touch there. Could also have more personality. There's a generic-ness to its greatness.
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11/29/2017 - Cuellar's Cellar Likes this wine: 90 Points
i wanted more. BUT The wine looks purple colored. There is moderate sediment in the bottle. It smells like blackberry and walnut. HIGH TANNINS, smokey, concentrated cranberry
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11/17/2017 - WineRay05 Likes this wine: 97 Points
Tasted at the Winery. Poetry in a bottle....
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10/30/2017 - RajivAyyangar wrote: 88 Points
IMW - Cab / Cab Franc Walk-Around Tasting 2018 (mostly 2014 vintage) (Hyatt, San Francisco): Ripe blackcurrant with hints of oak. Structured. High tannins with medium plus acid. Intense yet balanced.
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9/27/2017 - Yassine23 Likes this wine:
Very young, interesting though. Wrapped up in new oak at the moment but the potential is there.
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9/3/2017 - cab blends Does not like this wine: 92 Points
If I want to give someone a tannic bomb then this is it - I am a friend of tannin.
The nose is light boiled eggs and this interestingly seems to be because it was too cold. Once it warmed up this disappeared.
Possibly unfair tasting this after the 2003 Spottswoode which was beautifully balanced.
684487
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9/3/2017 - Millennial Drinkers wrote: 92 Points
Grabbed this from the wine list at Chops Grille, great price at $128.00 ($101.00 with drinks package) a bottle. Deep purplish ruby red. Iron on the attack of the nose when the wine was cold, needed to warm up. Layered of vanilla, cinnamon, black fruits, dark red berries and a touch floral. Heavy tannins (8.5/10) with a full body. Dark palate with raspberries, black cherries, herbs and spices. Crushed dark gravel in the long finish. Needs a long decant or a year or two in bottle to open up. Drink from 2018 till 2032.
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9/1/2017 - msuwine wrote: 92 Points
A dense and tart Cabernet that needs another few years to open up. Dark purple in color, medium in body, nose of black cherry, graphite, and lavender. Tastes of blueberry, raspberry, leather, and cedar, with a sour and tannic finish. Blend of 88% Cabernet Sauvignon, 8% Cabernet Franc, and 4% Petit Verdot. 15% alcohol. Wait another few years to try.
I'm thinking this was just in an awkward place - it tasted a bit tart (almost under-ripe) to me, but I think that will be solved with time. I'm sure the 50th anniversary made some critics nostalgic, and time will tell if they're right about this being exceptional. Right now, it's good - but not great.
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8/20/2017 - slywka7 Likes this wine: 95 Points
Really nice. Balanced. More old world but still definitely California. An often overlooked wine in this day and age but most of it still comes from To Kalon vineyard.
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7/29/2017 - ashikoh wrote: 90 Points
Dark ruby color. Blackberry, cassis, and licorice with a slight vegetal note. It's a bit tight and acidic at this point in its development and will need more time to realize the full potential of the vineyard and vintage.
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5/6/2017 - Mascarello59 Likes this wine: 94 Points
At the winery. Lot more of rich sweet fruit and oak aromas. Round, balanced with ripe tannin and with a great inner fruit core. Long balanced finish. Despite the warm year, no heat showing. Needs time, don't waste it too early on.
All these Estate To Kalon reserves are obviously of very high caliber. Much more Bordeaux like than I had expected. 94-95p
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5/2/2017 - ozyloy wrote: 91 Points
Tasted at the winery.
Clear, deep ruby.
Blackcurrant, cedar oak, dark cherry. Faint green herbs.
High acidity, full body, medium(+) rather grippy tannins, medium(+) finish.
Young. Forward tannins. The '12 was more rounded and demonstrative. Regardless, this should improve with a few more years.
I do regret that my overall impression is that the Mondavi To Kalon generally do not quite match up to the Beckstoffer To Kalon (broadly speaking). Maybe that's why the fellow can get away with charging such risible prices for his grapes!
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4/3/2017 - S_stas wrote: 92 Points
Too young. A little flabby and chalking it up to the vintage..
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2/28/2017 - Christine Havens Likes this wine: 94 Points
Another heavy hitter from a lineup spanning four decades of Napa Cabs. The 2013 Robert Mondavi To Kalon Vineyard Reserve Cabernet is still quite primary. It's opaque, with a bold magenta rim. Structurally, opulent—the core furnished with juicy black fruit, ripe, glossy tannins and a hint of how it will evolve—a palate pleasing melange of anise, mocha, Madagascar vanilla, black pepper, and savory tones. There is more everything packed into it, like an overcrowded suitcase, something this writer knows about.
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12/8/2016 - Man in Black wrote:
Deep ruby colour. The nose shows medium+ intensity aromas of ripe dark cherries, black currants, liquorice, black olives, cinnamon and hints of lavender.
It is dry in the mouth with a medium acidity. It has high coarse tannins and a high well-integrated alcohol. It is full-bodied with pronounced intensity flavours. The finish is long.
It is a very good quality wine. It has a lingering finish and a tasty fruit concentration that balances quite well the high alcohol strength. The tannins are not well-resolved yet, but it's a question of time. It lacks some complexity as well, but it has potential to develop more interesting tertiary aromas with some years of bottle ageing.
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11/27/2016 - sdwineguru Likes this wine: 92 Points
Darkest purple; big Cabernet nose; herbaceous, wood, mint; mid-body; balanced; some nuances on the palate; needs time; a little hot (15.0 alc.).
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11/16/2016 - walkerjfw wrote:
Taste of Oakville (Carnegie Hall, New York City): Drinking this after the 2003, interesting to taste a such a big vintage this early in its development.
Bright purple/ruby color. Nose was rich; dark fruits, blackberry. Palate was dark and blue fruits, cassis, baking spice, anise. Some green notes and floral on mid palate.
More accessible than I thought, but still very tannic and backward. Would revisit in 5 years, this will probably be hitting stride in about 10 years...hard to rate at this point, long life ahead of it...
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11/5/2016 - Ultimatewinekick_Andreas wrote: 92 Points
Rather soft fruit on the nose, dominated by darker fruit like blueberries, but also with clear nots of toasted oak that encapsulates the nose. Denser fruit on the palate but also an inkiness and salt, and in the finish there is some bitterness from oak. The wine start rather soft on the nose but it get more sharp with acidity and inkiness along the way. The wine has some elegance but unfortunately the oak does not give it a chance to shine.
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10/24/2016 - bestdamncab Likes this wine: 91 Points
MW Institute Sit Down Tasting 2012/2013 Cabernet Sauvignon Panel, nose of cranberry, black cherry, blackberry, opened for 45 minutes, my previous note the wine was open for 90 minutes, same on the palate, medium/big body, and a medium/long finish. Genevieve Janssens present.
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10/24/2016 - bestdamncab Likes this wine: 91 Points
MW Institute Walk Around 2013 American Cabernet Tasting, nose of oak, blackberry, black cherry, dusty, forest floor, more of the same on the palate, big body, intensely concentrated, fairly closed on the nose and palate and the medium amount of soft tannins did not help tasting today.
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10/24/2016 - RajivAyyangar wrote: 85 Points
Institute of Masters of Wine - 2012-13 Cabernet Sit-Down tasting (Hyatt, San Francisco): Super crazy tannic. Almost red-fruited. The black fruit just isn't here for me.
8% Cab franc and 4% Petit Verdot
8.5
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