Tasting selected Constellation Brands' To Kalon Wines

I have tasted all of the estate wines grown in the Collective To Kalon Vineyard, and a number of the wines made from fruit purchased from Beckstoffer To Kalon, but have not tasted any of the Constellation To Kalon wines. I sought to partially address this shortcoming by organizing a tasting of the following wines:

1. Robert Mondavi The Estates Fumé Blanc 2021
2. Double Diamond Cabernet Sauvignon 2021
3. To Kalon Vineyard Company Eliza's 2019
4. To Kalon Vineyard Company H. W. C. 2019
5. To Kalon Wine Company Highest Beauty 2019
6. Robert Mondavi The Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon 2015
7. Robert Mondavi Cabernet Sauvignon Reserve.

The lineup -- tasted from right to left

The tasting team

Robert Mondavi The Estates Fumé Blanc 2021 -- Fumé Blanc was the name that Robert Mondavi bestowed on dry-fermented, high-quality Sauvignon Blanc in a period when most Napa-built SBs were sweet. His inspiration was the Sauvignon Blancs from the Loire Valley. The 2021 version of this wine was made from fruit sourced from two blocks of the I-block clone and is mostly Sauvignon Blanc with "a dash of Semillon."

The wine presented as older than its actual age. Earthy, with tropical fruit notes, faded lychee, and crushed-stone minerality on the nose. Medium weight with great acidity and a lengthy finish.

Double Diamond Cabernet Sauvignon 2021 -- Introduced in 2001 as a Cabernet Sauvignon cuvée with fruit drawn from top Napa Valley sites, the wine was placed on hiatus in 2016. It was brought out of cold storage in 2018 using To Kalon fruit.

The 2021 version was fruit-forward and dominated by notes of dark berry fruit, chocolate, cassis and spice. On the lighter side. Disappointing finish.

To Kalon Vineyard Company 2019 Eliza's -- Named after Elizabeth Yount, the widow of George Yount, the founder of Yountville. The 2019 edition of this wine was a 63%/37% blend of Cabernet Sauvignon and Cabernet Franc. The winemaker at To Kalon Vineyard Company was Andy Erickson from the inception to 2022. In 2022 he shared winemaking responsibility with Tony Biagi, the torch-bearer for subsequent vintages.

Complex; especially apparent when following the Double Diamond. Broad-based with red and blue fruit, smoke, forest floor, and spice on the nose. Rich and thick on the palate but with a soft mouthfeel. Ripe fruit. Lengthy finish.

To Kalon Vineyard Company 2019 H.W.C. -- 100% Cabernet Sauvignon named after the original founder of To Kalon Vineyard. Sourced from Heritage clones originally planted by Robert Mondavi. 

Intense red and black fruit, smoke, baking spices, and neutral shoe polish on the nose. Rich on the palate with good length on the finish.

To Kalon Vineyard Company 2019 Highest Beauty -- 100% Cabernet Sauvignon. Fruit from the 2016 harvest constituted the first wine of this label.

Rich black fruit and baking spices on the nose with a full body and velvety tannins on the palate. Long finish.

The Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon has historically included 10% - 15% fruit from Macdonald Vineyard. The 2015 version is 92% Cabernet Sauvignon, 4% Merlot, and 2% each Cabernet Franc and Petit Verdot. That vintage showed dark fruit on the nose along with plum, tobacco, cedar, and baking spices. Lengthy finish. The 1988 edition showed dark fruit, dark chocolate, graphite and leather on the nose. Fully resolved tannins and a long finish.

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I was excited to taste these wines because I have come to the conclusion, based largely on the Detert and Macdonald wines, that To Kalon wines are some of the most tasty in the Valley. I was not blown away. With the exception of the Reserve Cabernet Sauvignons, the wines tasted were relatively young and will probably show more of their pedigree with the passage of time. That being said, the To Kalon Company wines stand in the shadow of the MacDonald Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon.

©Wine -- Mise en abyme

Constellation Brands: The "Bigfoot" of To Kalon Vineyard

The title of this post refers to Constellation Brands as the "Bigfoot" of To Kalon Vineyard and the relative size distribution of the various players in this space, illustrated in the chart below, is one factor that bears out this characterization.

Another factor was the legal decision handed down by the courts in the Vineyard House Winery suit to allow its use of the To Kalon name on its labels. One of Vineyard House Winery's claims was that To Kalon was a place name and, as such, not "trademarkable." Constellation, which had received the To Kalon (registered by Mondavi in 1988) and To Kalon Vineyard (registered by Mondavi in 1994) trademarks as part of the proceeds of the Robert Mondavi purchase, contested this claim vigorously.

In the decision handed down in January 2021, the judge ruled that Constellation could use the term To Kalon both as a brand and " a reference to all of their alluvial fields in Oakville." In addition, a permanent injunction was granted preventing non-Constellation use of To Kalon without the trademark holder's permission.

Hence ...

Background

I have detailed the history of the To Kalon Vineyard elsewhere; a summary is provided in the chart below.

Constellation Brands came into the To Kalon frame with its purchase of Robert Mondavi in 2004. The Mondavi family had sold 2.5 million shares in the company to the public on June 10, 1993 but retained a controlling interest post the transaction. At this time Michael and Tim were co-Managing Directors, Marcia (their sister) was a partner, and Clifford Adams was the COO. 

The now-public company flourished until it experienced slowing business performance in the early 2000s. The board thought that a reorganization which sold off the high-end portfolio (Mondavi Winery, Ornellaia, and its ownership stake in Opus One), while retaining the inexpensive offerings (Woodbridge by Robert Mondavi, Robert Mondavi Private Selection) would return the enterprise to profitability. Constellation countered this reorganization plan by offering to buy the enterprise for $970 million, an offer which the Board members seemed to ignore. Shareholder lawsuits, and a sweetened offer of $1.03 billion) from Constellation, resulted in the Board considering -- and accepting -- the offer. The deal, closed on 12/22/04, resulted in the separation of the Mondavi family from the business, with Robert retained as a Brand Ambassador.

Constellation's Leveraging of the To Kalon Vineyard

Constellation bought Schrader Cellars on June 16, 2017. This company's brand was, according to Tim Carl, "built on the marketing prowess of Schrader, the winemaking reputation and skills of Thomas Brown, and the quality of fruit and name recognition of the Beckstoffer Vineyard." Subsequent to the purchase, Constellation has introduced two new wines under this eponymous label: Heritage Clone To Kalon Vineyard and Monastery Block To Kalon. The latter, first released with the 2017 vintage, is 100% Cabernet Sauvignon Clone 169 from the vineyard's Monastery Block. The former, initiated with the 2018 vintage, is 100% Cabernet Sauvignon Clone 39 from Block N2S of the vineyard.

Schrader has a second label called Double Diamond which it had placed on hiatus in 2016. This label was first introduced in 2001 as a Cabernet Sauvignon cuvée which drew its fruit from top Napa Valley sites. With access to To Kalon fruit, the label was brought out of cold storage with the 2018 vintage as an Oakville cuvée with the bulk of its fruit sourced from the home vineyard.

In May of 2019, Constellation announced its Fine Wine Division's launch of To Kalon Vineyard Wine Company, a label helmed by Andy Erickson and using fruit sourced from the To Kalon Vineyard. The initial offering -- named Highest Beauty (100% Cabernet Sauvignon) -- utilized fruit from the vineyard's 2016 harvest.

Subsequently, To Kalon Vineyard Wine Company has introduced two additional wines: (i) H.W.C.  Cabernet Sauvignon (Initials of the To Kalon founder; 100% Cabernet Sauvignon Heritage Clone) and (ii) Eliza's Red Wine (Cabernet Sauvignon-Cabernet Franc blend named after Elizabeth Yount, the widow of the founder of Yountville). The 2019 edition of this wine was a blend of 63% Cabernet Sauvignon and 37% Cabernet Franc.

Beginning with the 2022 vintage, the winemaker of To Kalon Wine Company will be Tony Biagi. He will share that responsibility with Andy Erickson for that vintage and will then have sole responsibility going forward.

Organic Certification

The Constellation Brands portion of Collective To Kalon has been farmed sustainably for a number of years under the Napa Green certification regime but the company has been hard at work over the past three years readying To Kalon Vineyard for organic certification. Constellation currently manages 497 acres of the combined historic To Kalon Vineyard plus the non-Opus portion of the Stelling Extension and, of this, a total of 331 acres have attained organic certification. Younger vines and buffer blocks remain uncertified at this time. The first vintage of organic fruit will come with the 2023 harvest.

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I have tasted, and written about, all of the estate wines from Collective To Kalon, as well as selected wines from Beckstoffer To Kalon, but have not so treated the Constellation To Kalon wines. I recently organized a tasting to address that shortcoming and will report on it in a follow-up post.

©Wine -- Mise en abyme