Mondavi’s $200 ‘M’ Cabernet Reclaims Family Honor: John Mariani

March 16 (Bloomberg) -- With the world’s wineries full to the brim and prices dropping for even the most illustrious labels, the idea of introducing a new California cabernet sauvignon at the cult-wine price of $200 a bottle seems like either sheer folly or canny marketing.

“I didn’t time the introduction of M too well, one month before the economy really crashed,” admits Michael Mondavi, who rolled out his new wine last month to wholesalers, retailers and writers at a dinner he hosted in New York at chef Thomas Keller’s Per Se. It’s the 2005 vintage, after two years he didn’t feel good enough to bottle as M.

Yet even with the high price for a brand-new label, M already has run through its 700-case supply.

“I could have sold it all to my mailing list,” says Mondavi, 65, “but distributors, retailers and restaurateurs have helped me throughout my career and I want to support them. Only 200 cases went to subscribers.” For the rest, “60 percent to restaurants and 40 percent to retail, although with this economy, those percentages may reverse.” M is allocated in three-bottle cartons. Mondavi anticipates he will never make more than 1,200 cases a year.

M is Mondavi’s attempt to restore the luster of his own reputation and name after his family, headed by his late father, Robert, lost control of their company in 2004 to Constellation Brands Inc.

Family Saga

The story of how one of California’s iconic brands came to that fate is told in Julia Flynn Siler’s 2007 book “The House of Mondavi: The Rise and Fall of an American Wine Dynasty” (Gotham, 464 pages). It details the rivalries, raging egos and rampant expansionism that eventually led to the sale of a majority interest in the company, including a joint venture of Mondavi and Mouton-Rothschild named Opus One (which makes 25,000-30,000 cases annually).

Upon losing Robert Mondavi Winery, Michael founded Folio Wine Partners, representing two dozen domestic and foreign wineries, including his own Oberon label, Italy’s Marchesi de Frescobaldi and Spain’s Clos Dominic.

To create M, with his son Rob and winemaker Tony Coltrin, Mondavi 10 years ago chose a 17-acre vineyard site called Animo (“soul” in Italian), at Atlas Peak. Walking the vineyards 20 times in 3 1/2 weeks, they picked ripening grapes from a dozen distinct zones, first hand-harvesting the higher elevations, then the lower ones. A post-fermentation maceration lasted 18 to 22 days, followed by 22 months in French oak barrels, followed by 12 months in bottle.

All Cabernet

Contrary to common practice among Napa cabernet producers, Mondavi chose not to blend in other grapes like merlot and cabernet franc. Instead he hearkens back to the 100 percent cabs that California made in the 1970s and that won high points in critics’ ratings.

“When I was making wine with my father, I always used some merlot or cab franc,” he recalls. “Only the 1973 vintage was 100 percent cabernet sauvignon. So I assumed M would be a blend, too. But I found that because cabs from hillside vineyards are so much more complex, I didn’t need the other varietals to achieve the character I wanted. If I think we can improve that character, I might add other grapes in the future.

“M is bold but not overpowering. It’s not your typical California cabernet. And while I think it’s ready to be enjoyed today, M can easily be laid down for 30 years.”

That’s an iffy proposition for any winemaker to make, for even some of the greatest cabs from the Napa Valley have not fared well beyond a decade of release. Many of those blockbuster 100 percent cabs of the 1970s and 1980s were, in retrospect, simply unbalanced and overwhelming.

No Fruit Bomb

Yet I think Mondavi has got it right with M. For one thing, it has just 14.1 percent alcohol, in contrast to those fruit bombs at 15 percent and above that many California cult wines represent.

“I cannot drink high-alcohol wines with a meal,” Mondavi says. “They don’t invite me back into the glass and are not great with food. I decided I could either make a wine to please some of the critics or one I believed was more of the classic style of cabernet.”

I have to agree that M is now very mellow and drinkable, a bit hot in the nose, though its pronounced fruit is in no way jammy. It’s a classic California cab, all right, yet there’s elegance and subtlety. As for its ability to age for 30 years, I haven’t a clue. This is only the first vintage. Like any thoroughbred, great wines need a track record before their reputation is secure.