Cabernet category and producer positioning
The Grocery Store Wine verdict
Robert Mondavi Private Selection
Bourbon Barrel-Aged Cabernet Sauvignon
This is Cabernet translated into bourbon-barrel language: dark, sweet-spiced and deliberately smoky. Buy it for the treatment, not for vineyard detail or classic Cabernet restraint.
- Region
- California
- Grape
- Cabernet Sauvignon-led blend
- The release we researched
- Current release
- Price context
- 10 exact store checks below
What to expect in the glass.
Here is the style this wine is meant to have, based on its region and how it was made.
Producer flavor description
Producer flavor description
The stated barrel treatment
What it costs
Exact regular prices from dated store checks.
- Kroger, Atlanta suburbs, GA$14.99
- Kroger, Cincinnati, OH$14.99
- Kroger, Knoxville, TN$14.99
- Kroger, Richmond, VA$15.99
- King Soopers, Colorado Springs, CO$13.99
- Fry's, Tucson, AZ$15.99
- Smith's, Las Vegas, NV$15.49
- Fred Meyer, Portland, OR$20.99
- QFC, Tacoma, WA$17.99
- Ralphs, Long Beach, CA$17.99
Observed at specific stores; your store will vary. A price target, not an ad.
This is Cabernet translated into bourbon-barrel language: dark, sweet-spiced and deliberately smoky. Buy it for the treatment, not for vineyard detail or classic Cabernet restraint.
Our call uses producer and regional evidence, dated public ratings and the bottle’s position in the aisle. Price never enters the GSW Score.
- You like vanilla, mocha and smoke in red wine
- A soft, bold party red is the assignment
- You want broad public approval at a mainstream price
- You want firm, dry Cabernet structure
- You dislike bourbon-barrel flavors
- You need blend and chemistry disclosure
Serve slightly cool, then let the glass warm enough to show its fruit and structure.
Match the bottle’s full red structure, sweetness and acidity to the food rather than to the label’s prestige.
Getting to know California.
California on the label is useful provenance but weak terroir resolution. For these wines, sourcing disclosure, blend construction and house-style consistency carry more decision value than a generic climate paragraph.
What the name means
A state-level appellation, broader than an individual American Viticultural Area. It permits a multi-region blend and does not by itself identify one climate or soil.
How grapes grow here
The state spans cool maritime zones and hot inland valleys. A California designation alone does not reveal which conditions shaped the fruit.
What lies under the vines
At state scale, sourcing and house-style construction matter more than any single soil story.
How large the region is
- Reusable question
- Which counties or AVAs supplied the blend, and did that mix change by release?
Places within the region
- Resolution limit
- County, AVA and vineyard claims begin only when the release names them.
About this bottling
This is a barrel-treatment story more than a place story. The reviewed source establishes the bourbon-barrel brief, while blend, vintage and finished chemistry remain open.
Winemaking
The wine is aged with bourbon-barrel influence; the current producer page does not publish the time, barrel proportion or finished chemistry.
Taste
The producer says blackberry, black cherry, praline, vanilla custard, mocha and smoke.
Robert Mondavi Private Selection
The named producer is established; current corporate ownership is not inferred beyond the reviewed producer material.
Robert Mondavi Private Selection launched in 1994 and marked its thirtieth anniversary by moving the range toward the Vint name.
The brand frames bourbon-barrel aging as an intentional flavor tool, emphasizing dark fruit, vanilla, mocha, smoke and sweet spice.
- Origin
- California; current source does not establish a narrower appellation partly confirmed
- Barrel treatment
- Bourbon barrel-aged; duration and barrel share not published on the reviewed page partly confirmed
- Package weights
- Kroger reported 2.74 lb gross and 2.78 lb net; net exceeds gross sources disagree
- Ingredient statement
- Kroger supplied the literal text “NA”; it is not evidence that ingredients are absent sources disagree
- Reported by the store package
- 3.1 × 11.75 × 3.1 in; 2.74 lb gross; 2.78 lb net reported by the store
Where this information comes from.
We researched this release from the producer's own material and current store listings. We haven't held this exact bottle yet. When we do, we'll say so.
SourcePublisher / how strong the source isChecked
American Viticultural Areas ↗
Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureauregulator
Robert Mondavi Private Selection release and producer record ↗
Robert Mondavi Private SelectionRelease, production, taste and producer facts
Dated retailer product record
KrogerPackage, identifier and data-quality checks
Kroger product rating ↗
Kroger4.52 / 5 from 1,055 ratings
Target product rating ↗
Target4.60 / 5 from 1,286 ratings
Total Wine product rating ↗
Total Wine4.50 / 5 from 421 ratings
Front, back, fine print.
The label, the barcode and the fine print, captured so you can read what the bottle actually says.
