With repesct to older vintages, in October I tasted three of Mondavi's more renowned Cabernet Sauvignons. The 1978 Cabernet Sauvignon Reserve has consistently been a 90 point wine. It remains a beautiful Cabernet, displaying cedar, tobacco, and black currant fruit. Medium to full-bodied and fully mature, with sweet ripeness on the attack, excellent purity, and a long, supple finish, this wine should keep for another 7-10 years. Tel. (707) 259-9463 and (800) MONDAVI; Fax (707) 963-1007.

Dark, ripe and flavorful, with a complex array of mature dried cherry, plum, anise and cedar notes. Shows a measure of restraint and finesse and finishes with an aftertaste that echoes its mature but complex flavors.--1978 California Cabernet Retrospective. Drink now through 2002. -JL

Unknown % of To Kalon; the winemaker thinks “a big chunk, maybe most.” Still good color, getting a pretty bouquet of old cabernet. Delicate, inviting, refined, not at all morbid. Very dry, lots of week cassis. Soft, distinguished, still lots of life ahead. Sweet vanilla, butter. Old claret. Now-2010. ——S.H.(6/1/2005)—— 94