With a platinum blonde bob and a beaming smile, Margrit Mondavi was the highlight at the dedication of a private dining room at Modus Ristorante in Toronto recently. 

Margrit joined Mondavi winery in 1967 and brought “culture” on board almost immediately, with a music festival in 1969 and an art show in 1970. Her focus remains on bringing wine, food and the arts together. “I just had an art opening,” Margrit said. “It’s a new show that’s going to be on for two months featuring James Jarrett, a famous artist from San Francisco. There were 150 people at the opening party.” The next day she was on a plane to Canada and arrived at the restaurant directly from the airport. Her tour would include several dinners and events in Toronto, Montreal and Quebec City.

Margrit also brought along Mark DeVere, Mondavi’s resident Master of Wine. The avuncular Englishman led a fine tasting of the Mondavi Reserve range along with a five-course tasting menu. DeVere reminded us that in America the word “reserve” carries no official weight and winemakers can add it to any label they want. Mondavi, however, respects the European tradition of higher quality grapes, and more attentive winemaking for the reserves, including hand-sorted grapes. The three tiers of Mondavi are Napa Valley at entry level, District wines from specific vineyards (e.g., Oakville, Stags Leap), and Reserve at the top.

Margrit Mondavi has been in Napa long enough to know it’s all about the cab. “The best cabernet sauvignon has the tenderness of a baby’s bottom and the power of Pavarotti,” she said. My favorites of the tasting were the two cabs, especially the pricier one. Mark DeVere told us that almost all the grapes for the Cabernet Sauvignon Reserve are sourced “from the best blocks” of To Kalon vineyard. Like a Burgundy grower praising a prized hill, DeVere said To Kalon consistently delivers “more complex and distinctive wines.” The earliest of the current plantings date from 1945 and include some of the oldest cab sauv and sauv blanc vines in California.

Mark De Vere (left) raises a glass of Mondavi cab at the Modus event with Vincor CEO Eric Morham.

One thing that’s clear is Mondavi’s wines of today are bigger, fuller and, most strikingly, more alcoholic than in the past. I got to try Mondavi Cabernet Sauvignon Reserves from a number of different years at another fine tasting hosted by Mark DeVere three years ago. The 2008 Oakville and Reserve cabs weigh in at 15.6 and 15.9 percent alcohol, respectively. By comparison, the 1987 Reserve was 12.9%; the 1993, 13.8%; the 2001, 14.6%. A knee-jerk reaction might be to cry “global warming”, but Napa was hardly cool before.  At that tasting in 2008, DeVere said “we just don't know why," and pointed out that wines made after hot summers 20 or so years ago had lower alcohol levels than wines made after cooler summers recently.

Since then, a few reasons for the higher alcohol levels have been established. Genevieve Janssens, Director of Winemaking at Mondavi, says that new rootstock planted since the late-80s, more widespread use of drip irrigation and generally healthier vines mean that sugar levels become high before ripeness is achieved, and they continue to rise while the skins mature. Higher sugar levels in the grapes mean higher alcohol in the wine. The weather is still important though: Janssens added that this year was cloudy and cooler in Napa and she expects the 2011s will be back in the 14% range.

Both the Reserve 2008 and the Oakville 2008 had rich noses with lots of dark red fruit, including cherries, plus oak notes and underbrush. The pricier Reserve was more muted than the Oakville. Both were super smooth and integrated, full bodied and rich with great dark cherry fruit. Tobacco notes on the Oakville and smoke notes on the Reserve. In terms of aging potential, DeVere says the wines should go 20-30 years, even with their higher alcohol as they are well balanced. It’s true that although the alcohol in the two wines approaches a practically fortified 16%, neither felt disjointed or “hot”.

I paired the Reserve with roasted venison loin with smoked bacon jus and sour cherries and it was electrifyingly good: a tasty reminder that few wines are better with game than a rich, fruity Napa cab.

Another wine that got rave reviews was the Fume Blanc Reserve 2009, which is a blend with 8% semillon – very Bordeaux! The rather oaky nose has a good amount of white fruit, a grassy hint and a citrus note. Then it’s super fresh on the palate, which is fuller bodied and more tropical in the fruit dept. Cedar/oak notes are evident yet work well and there’s a nice rich finish.

DeVere reminded us that Robert Mondavi coined the name fume blanc in 1968. Sauvignon blanc in California had always been a sweet wine and he wanted to differentiate his dry version. Its original inspiration was Pouilly-Fume from France’s Loire Valley. Mondavi took one of the local names for the wine –  “blanc fume” – flipped it around, pumped up the oak and created a new style of sauvignon blanc. 100% of the grapes used in the Reserve came from To Kalon. For Mark Devere, this wine “is best between five and ten years of age.” I could see potential benefit in greater integration and a general toning down, so maybe hang on to it until 2015.

The Reserve Chardonnay 2008 was full, creamy, toasty and smoky and the Pinot Noir Reserve 2009 was rich, dark and fuller bodied in that Cali style.

In one of several toasts, Margrit called out to the 50+ diners preparing to clink glasses and gave a warning – “If you don’t look the other person in the eye, you’ll have seven years of bad sex.” I looked my dining companion in the eye and so didn’t notice if Margrit did hers...

Note: a version of this story appeared in Palate Press.