Wine Of The Week: ‘Ode To Soul’ By Robert Mondavi Winery & VII(N) The Seventh Estate
A Napa Valley red from NBA baller Carmelo Anthony’s wine brand.
The worlds of wine and basketball are increasingly blending together. LeBron James and JJ Redick launched a wine-fueled podcast, and baller oenophile Carmelo Anthony hosted an Instagram Live series called “What’s In Your Glass?” where he chatted with other NBA wine enthusiasts. And most recently, Robert Mondavi Winery rolled out a years-in-the-making collaboration with VII(N) The Seventh Estate, a winery run by Anthony and his co-founder Asani Swann Benjamin.
VII(N)—named after the French word for wine, and the Roman numeral version of Anthony’s Knicks jersey—explores the rich history of Bordeaux wines. There are nuanced, rich Chateauneuf-du-Papes and Grand Cru blends from Saint Emilion. Now, together with Robert Mondavi and its chief winemaker Geneviève Janssens, they’re exploring one of the wine world’s other great regions: the Napa Valley.
Ode to Soul, the first release from the collaboration, is a nod to Napa history, highlighting grapes harvested from the legendary To Kalon vineyard that runs through the heart of Napa. Blending Cabernet Sauvignon with Cabernet Franc and Petit Verdot, it’s a California Cabernet with a Bordeaux accent. Plush and unctuous notes of black cherry, licorice, lavender, and Montmercy cherry that finish off with enveloping tannins. $275
Kate Dingwall is a sommelier and wine writer. Her work frequently appears in Wine Enthusiast, Eater, Forbes.com, and Food & Wine, and she pours wine at one of Canada’s top restaurants.
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