The Whiskey Reviewer A World of Whiskey, Poured Every Weekday
By Richard Thomas
Rating: B+
Robert Mondavi Bourbon Barrel Aged Cabernet Sauvignon
(Credit: Richard Thomas)
One of the problems with being a well-known, perhaps even ubiquitous brand is that even the most casual snob will bypass it. By “casual,” I mean a crippling case of toxicity or Kruger-Dunning effect is unnecessary. All someone needs is the notion that they should pursue something novel or (imagined to be) more elevated to bypass stuff that is pretty good, but way too familiar. I used to see this literally every day when I was a DJ in my undergraduate days; my first exposure to toxic fandom was with music nerds, way back in the 1990s.
In my opinion, this perception has beset Robert Mondavi Bourbon Barrel Aged Cab Sav. When the subject comes up, I hear a lot of buzz about other bourbon barrel aged wines… but not this one. This conversation takes place entirely inside whiskey circles, so maybe this isn’t the case with wine folks, but like I wrote above… casual snobbery. Go figure.
The Wine
The fruit for this comes from Monterey County coastal vineyards, and it has been aged in a mix of new and used bourbon barrels for at least three months. That is an interesting phrasing, because new bourbon barrels means a charred, 53-gallon white oak barrel that has not been used to age bourbon. So the wood here is a mix of half-spent, bourbon-infused oak and the new oak that contributes so much to why bourbon tastes the way it does.
That likely explains the strong vanilla overtones in the wine. This is so much the case that vanilla shares center stage with the Cab Sav cherry and blackberry fruitiness. The customary cedar becomes an oakier current, so familiar to us whiskey fans, grounded in earthy coffee and barrel char notes.
The Price
Checking with a few retailers revealed the street price for this bottle is $11 to $14, and at that rate it is very well worth it. In fact, it will become my go-to for bourbon barrel aged red wine for some time to come.
This is a limited release. There was one in 2017, and this one is from 2019. So keep an eye out, because there may very well be a gap during which it is unavailable.
