As long as you dig in above the whole "Private Reserve" thing, Mondavi makes some damn fine wines, so I'm quite happy to pay $25+ for a bottle I haven't even tried since prior vintages have been strong. The nose on this is kind of blah, it reminds me of very mild grape bubble gum - in fact, there's a Japanese grape bubble gum, basically gum balls, that this is strikingly similar to...along with sort of a charred steak sorta thing.
On the immediate attack is that Japanese grape bubble gum thing and it does remain throughout but some other things certainly come through...cinnamon, black cherry, cedar.
I must have it stuck in my head, but I'll be damned if I don't get more of that grape gum thing on the finish, it fades away with more cedar, more black cherry in an ice cream sorta way.
It's enjoyable, don't get me wrong, but under close scrutiny I don't think it holds up honestly - tasty, but simple, and at $25 perhaps this would be a fine wine to bring to Christmas dinner if your host is making a roast - something solid, but not groingrabbing (grabbing your groin is best left for New Year's Eve). We really dug the 2005, but this vintage I'm not quite so sure.
Score: 87
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