Y by YOSHIKI Cabernet Sauvignon “Encore” California 2022
Tasting Notes
Rich notes of freshly picked blackberries, mellow chocolate and subtle spices combine with juicy French plum to create the quintessential Y by YOSHIKI Cabernet. A near-perfect balance of French and American oak enhances the black and red fruits, resulting in a delicate flan-like deliciousness with a hint of caramel sugar.
Encore - Originally Reproduced from Earlier Vintage to Meet Demand In light of fires
2020 was a year of many large-scale wildfires in California. Many wineries gave up on winemaking due to smoke damage to fields just before harvest. The 2020 Y by YOSHIKI Cabernet Sauvignon vintage could not be produced either. Rob immediately worked hard to secure wine from the 2019 harvest, and began blending with YOSHIKI again to complete the second 2019 vintage wine. This wine was given the name "Encore".
The 2022 Cabernet Sauvignon vintage is a fruity year with plenty of aroma and body. The harvest started early and the heat increased throughout the season, accelerating ripeness, resulting in grapes with a variety of flavors from dark to red fruits in this vintage. The harvest started calmly, and a record heat wave pushed ripeness to its peak, allowing us to produce some amazing wines.
Night Harvesting
The grapes are harvested at night to maintain a natural acidity balance. The destemmed, dark grapes are transferred to the fermentation tanks where fermentation begins. The fruit and juice reach 32°C and continue to ferment. This warm temperature fermentation extracts color, tannins and beautiful flavors from the grape skins. Once fermentation is complete, the wine is aged in equal parts French and American oak for a rich, smooth wine with a long finish.
WInery - Robert Mondavi Jr.
Rob Mondavi Jr., a fourth-generation Napa Valley winemaker, began his passion for wine more than 30 years ago. The son of Isabel and Michael Mondavi, Rob grew up in Napa Valley, and as a child, the vineyards and wine cellars of Robert Mondavi Winery were his playground. As he grew up, Rob gained a wealth of experience working in the winery's fields, cellars and hospitality. An entrepreneur from a young age, he started a business that organized mountain bike tours in Napa Valley while he was a student, and after graduating from college, he worked in sales for Southern Wine & Spirit, a major distributor of fine wines.
After taking a break from the wine industry, Rob started a company in Napa in 1995 to import and sell premium cigars from the Dominican Republic, Nicaragua and the Canary Islands. After leaving the cigar business, Rob joined Robert Mondavi Corporation in 2000. He spent a year as sales manager for luxury brands, and in 2001 was promoted to sales director, responsible for sales in over 20 states. After two years in sales, he returned to Napa Valley to work as marketing director, developing and implementing the winery's marketing programs. During this time, he studied vineyard work, blending and tasting intensively under Winemaker Geneviève Janssen and the winemaking and vineyard teams.
In 1999, Rob, his father Michael, his mother Isabel, and his sister Deena bought a small piece of barren land surrounded by manzanita trees on the hill of Atlas Peak, and would later establish The Michael Mondavi Family Estate (MMFE). Rob became President of Winemaking at MMFE in 2004, returning to the passion he first had as a child for growing grapes and making wine, and creating a number of premium wines. Rob became Director of Winemaking in 2012, and his wines express a balanced new generation sensibility, and he also focuses on natural farming, while using the latest winemaking techniques in the cellar to produce wines.
He currently serves on the Board of Directors of Winegrowers of Napa County and is a past board member of the Napa Valley Vintners. He enjoys duck hunting and fly fishing and resides in Napa Valley with his wife, Lydia, and their two sons.
A comment from Rob Mondavi Jr. - Traditional Yet Excitingly Adventurous Approach
"I think YOSHIKI is someone who has broken the conventional wisdom of the Japanese music world. YOSHIKI is a person who has an overwhelming presence on stage and is soft-spoken and extremely graceful and kind. He is a classically trained pianist and a drummer in a rock band, and he can change like a chameleon, possessing grace, eloquence and a sense of adventure depending on the situation.
YOSHIKI has always had a unique way of looking at things. He respects tradition, but also has an inherent desire to push boundaries and push boundaries, and always stays exciting and fresh. This is exactly the same approach I take when making wine.
Country of Origin: USA
Region: California
Appellation: California
Winery: Y by YOSHIKI
Year of production: 2022
Color: Red
Varieties: 100% Cabernet Sauvignon
Stopper: Cork
Capacity: 750 ml
Alcohol content: 13.5%
