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MONDAV.RG
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1993-06-18
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Before long, others followed Mondavi's example, and nowadays simple
"White" or "Red" is easy to find as fake French -- and often better.
And now guess who has changed his label again.
Mondavi's newly released generics, which arrived in Louisville markets
last month, add the name of the predominant grape from which each is made:
1985 Robert Mondavi California Red Cabernet and 1986 Robert Mondavi White
Sauvignon Blanc ($3.99 each).
Mondavi, who abandoned the "chablis" title just in time to win the
approval of a cresting wave of American wine sippers who fueled a decade of
booming wine sales, is trying another stroke -- just as the U.S. market
appears poised, uncertain whether to move toward fine wine or abandon
alcohol, perhaps in favor of Perrier or yogurt.
After a booming decade during which the nation's per capita wine
consumption doubled and quite a few wine makers got rich, table-wine sales
dropped 5 percent last year, tapering off for the first time since the
1970s.
Meanwhile, the industry -- with the 74-year-old Mondavi as one of its
leading spokesmen -- is fighting off consumer attacks on wine and liquor as
potential hazards to health and the unborn.
It might seem time for a winery to go back to marketing saleable
"chablis."
Instead, Mondavi has fixed on one hopeful sign amid all the dismal
statistics: Unlike inexpensive jug wines, the top-of-the-line "super-premium"
wines -- those retailing for more than $5 or so -- still show healthy
growth.
Adding the name of the grape to the label, as is done almost invariably
with more expensive labels, should draw the attention of that more
sophisticated market.
While the U.S. mass market may not be ready, now or perhaps ever, to
switch to wine, a growing number (let's not call them "yuppies," for they
include over-40s too) has become knowledgable, serious about wine (and hard
to fool with fake-French labels) and prepared to pay a fair price for
quality.
When it comes to quality, Mondavi delivers. From "Red" and "White" up to
his classy Private Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon, a wine for long aging that
commands a $20-plus price and deserves it, he turns out good, fairly priced
wines, somehow managing industrial quantity while retaining -- in most cases
-- boutique quality.
I'd rate the new, grape-designated table wines a cut above Mondavi's old
generics (which themselves weren't bad). Each displays the typical character
of the grape in a simple but well-balanced wine suitable for quaffing without
pomp or ceremony; which, after all, is what wine is or ought to be about.
For this week's column I also sampled Mondavi's excellent 1985 Fume
Blanc (Sauvignon Blanc), one of the best-selling white "premium" wines in the
Louisville area ($8.99).
(4 stars) Robert Mondavi Napa Valley Fume Blanc, 1985. (Foo-may Blawnc.)
This clear, bright greenish-gold wine has a good yeasty, grassy scent,
typical of Sauvignon Blanc. Its lingering flavor mingles clean fruit and
sharp acid in a delicious, fruity-tart flavor reminiscent of fresh wine
grapes.
(3 1/2 stars) Robert Mondavi Red California Cabernet, 1985.
(Cab-air-nay.) This inky-dark, reddish-purple wine offers the characteristic
cedar-pine aroma of Cabernet grapes, with an exceptionally fruity flavor
combining pleasant, simple fruit with a light acidic edge and a hint of wood.
It's a well-made, balanced wine at a fair price.
(3 stars) Robert Mondavi White California Sauvignon Blanc, 1986.
(So-veen-yawn Blawnc.) This clear, bright greenish-gold wine's scent focuses
on the pleasantly grassy quality of Sauvignon Blanc. Its flavor features
attractive, simple fruit with pleasingly sharp, lemony acid and just a faint
hint of oak. Served ice cold it seemed neutral as grain alcohol, but pleasant
flavors developed as it warmed: Don't serve it from the ice bucket.
(2 1/2 stars) Robert Mondavi Napa Valley Pinot Noir, 1984. (Pee-no
Nwahr.) Pinot Noir is a difficult grape, and this clear, cranberry-colored
wine is not Mondavi's best. A pleasant wildflower scent is flawed by a vinous
alcoholic edge and a hint of vinegar, and its light-bodied flavor, although
attractively fruity, leaves an overall impression of alcoholic heat and
too-sharp acidity.
Courier-Journal Wine and Food Critic Robin Garr rates table wines
available in the Louisville area, using a one- to five-star scale determined
by quality and value. Send suggestions or questions in care of The
Courier-Journal, 525 W. Broadway, Louisville, Ky. 40202; call (502) 582-4647,
or send EasyMail to 73125,70.