2022 M by Michael Mondavi Cabernet Sauvignon, Napa Valley, USA
The market on this bottle
Wine-Searcher tracks this 2022 M by Michael Mondavi Cabernet Sauvignon, Napa Valley across the open market. Their published U.S. low is $193.61 and the average is $218.98. Our slash is $195.00.
M by Michael Mondavi 2022
2022 M by Michael Mondavi Cabernet Sauvignon, Napa Valley, USA
Cabernet Sauvignon from select blocks on Atlas Peak.
Michael Mondavi built M as his signature Cabernet, fruit from select blocks on the volcanic hillside of Atlas Peak, and the 2022 is 100% Cabernet Sauvignon.
The family has tended vines in California for four generations. Michael, with his wife Isabel and their children Dina and Rob Mondavi Jr., founded Michael Mondavi Family wines in 1999, and this is the Cabernet that carries his name.
Rob Mondavi Jr. and Sabrina Massola make the wine the way Michael asked for it, the balance of the great Bordeaux houses held inside Napa's plushness, from small clusters and small berries on that Atlas Peak slope.
The color is a deep ruby with a soft rose at the rim. Iris and violet lead into black currant, bramble, cherry, plum, tobacco, musk, wet earth, and anise, and the palate follows with cola, cherry, almond, and licorice, vivid acidity, medium plus tannins, and a long finish.
When a Cabernet is raised on Atlas Peak rock for the table, what are you waiting for?
"This is Michael's Cabernet, from the hillside he planted for it."
Growing Up Napa, the Michael Mondavi Family, on the family's Folio Fine Wine channel.
Select blocks on Atlas Peak
The blocks sit on volcanic hillside above the valley, farmed for the small berries that hillside fruit gives. The estate's own account of M is a single-vineyard Cabernet in the shape of the wines Michael made in the late 1960s and early 1970s, built to open slowly at the table and to earn a second glass.
The labeled appellation is Napa Valley. Atlas Peak is the slope the fruit comes from, not a second name on the label.
A harvest that started early
The estate called 2022 a tale of two harvests. Picking started early, the whites on 30 July and the reds from 31 August, taken in the cool morning hours.
The fruit was gently destemmed on a Pellenc, left to settle for a short time in small tanks, given a brief maceration, and then sent to barrel.
French oak, most of it new
It stayed 21 months in French oak, 75% of it new. Seventeen barrels were filled. Alcohol is 15.99%.
The oak is there to hold the hillside fruit, not to cover it. The tannins stay medium plus, the acidity stays vivid, and the finish is the long one the estate describes.
Ribeye, and venison
Beef and venison are the plates for a Cabernet of this shape. A ribeye gives the tannin a browned crust and some fat to work against. Venison is the leaner cut, and the earth in the finish has a place to land.
Pan-seared ribeye
A thick ribeye with a deep brown crust.
Why it works: The black fruit and the tannin meet the crust and the fat. Beef is the plate this Cabernet is poured beside.
View Recipe for Pan-seared ribeye (opens in a new tab)
Venison loin
Seared venison loin with a berry sauce.
Why it works: Venison is leaner than the ribeye. The earth in the finish has a cut that does not cover it up.
View Recipe for Venison loin (opens in a new tab)Take the bottle.
Michael's Cabernet, from select blocks on Atlas Peak, 100% Cabernet Sauvignon.
The winery price is $225. This bottle is $195. FEATURED20 takes another 20% off.
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