2021 Robert Mondavi Winery The Estates Cabernet Blend Oakville

Chances are Mondavi was one of the first wine names you ever knew. This is the bottle that shows you why.

In 1965, Robert Mondavi left his family's winery after a falling-out with his brother. A year later he opened his own in Oakville, the first major winery to open in Napa since Prohibition. Plenty of people doubted Napa could ever make wine to rival the best of Europe. He set out to prove them wrong.

To do it, he needed great dirt, and he chose To Kalon. Walking it, he said, he knew it was "a very special place." He was right. The first Opus One was made from To Kalon grapes, and Mondavi's top Cabernet, The Reserve, still comes from there.

This bottle is grown mostly on that same vineyard. The Estates is Mondavi's line for wines from its own vineyards, and this is the Oakville Cabernet. 2021 was a mild, dry year with a small crop, so the grapes came in small and packed with flavor. The wine spent 20 months in brand-new French oak barrels. That's where the hint of vanilla and toast comes from.

Pour a glass and you get blackberry and ripe plum with a touch of mint. The tannins are firm, and the finish is fresh and clean. It drinks great tonight and will keep improving over the next decade. If you like Mondavi's Napa Valley Cab, this is the step up I'd make next.

Robert believed in the Good Life: good wine, good food and good company. Open this with a steak and see what he meant.