To Kalon Vineyard Fume Blanc Reserve
⏳ Drinking Window
Typically best enjoyed within 3 to 10 years from the vintage release.
🍽️ Food & Wine Pairings
Herb-roasted chicken, grilled sea bass with lemon-butter sauce, or artisanal goat cheese.
✨ Technical Specifications
In 1968, Robert Mondavi revolutionized California Sauvignon Blanc by dry-fermenting the grape and aging it in French oak, naming the dry style 'Fumé Blanc' in a nod to Pouilly-Fumé. The fruit for this Reserve bottling is sourced from the legendary To Kalon Vineyard in Oakville, Napa Valley—originally planted in 1868 by pioneer H.W. Crabb, who named it after the Greek phrase for 'the highest beauty.' Crafted primarily from Sauvignon Blanc and often blended with a small portion of Sémillon, this wine is fermented and aged sur lie in French oak barrels with regular lees stirring. This technique imparts a rich, creamy texture and complex layers of lemon curd, white peach, and flinty minerality, balancing the grape's natural vibrant acidity with the historic vineyard's signature opulence.
🍾 About the Producer
Established in 1966 by California wine pioneer Robert Mondavi, this landmark estate catalyzed the post-Prohibition renaissance of Napa Valley fine wine. Anchored by the historic Mission-style winery designed by Cliff May, the heart of the estate lies in Oakville's famed To Kalon Vineyard, situated along an alluvial fan of well-drained gravelly loam beneath the Mayacamas Range. Here, warm diurnal shifts and cooling maritime drafts foster phenolic ripeness while preserving structural acidity. Guided by Director of Winemaking Kurtis Ogasawara, viticulture emphasizes rigorous ecological stewardship, highlighted by the CCOF organic certification of its core To Kalon acreage. The winemaking philosophy balances European classicism with Californian generosity, using temperature-controlled fermentation, French oak elevage, and careful plot-by-plot separation. The estate is celebrated for pioneering benchmark dry Fumé Blanc—including ancient ungrafted bush vines from the legendary I Block—and quintessential Napa Valley and To Kalon Vineyard Reserve Cabernet Sauvignons.