Hunt wrote:

> I'll bet you mean Rosemont Shiraz. Ravenswood is a Sonoma (though they do have
> property, and sources, that lie beyond Sonoma) Zin producer.

Nope, I bet he meant Ravenswood, Hunt. They now market a SW Aussie
Shiraz, which I've seen placed next to [other] Aussie Shirazes in the
supermarket in Indiana. Keep in mind that they're now owned by BRL
Hardy, so maybe it's not so surprising.

> I had the pleasure (?) of tasting the first R Mondavi Pinot Noir. It was,
> IIRC, 1978 (?), and was made by the recipe from UC Davis' thoughts on PN in
> those days. When tasted in 2000, this wine ripped the enamel from my teeth -
> still! To get concentration, back in those days, the skins were left in
> contact with the must for a week, with heavy agitation. Maybe someday, in the
> next century, this wine will be drinkable. As a result of this failed
> experiment, RM quit doing PNs for many years, and the winemaker became a
> marketing director.

LOL!! I do believe that I tasted that wine at release also, leading me
to the generalization that "Mondavi doesn't do Pinot Noir (well)."
Can't say that I was motivated to buy any, though. Still, compared to
the Pinots of Santa Cruz Mountain Vineyards in that era, Mondavi's was a
light, ready-to-drink wine ;-)

Mark Lipton