For a while now, it’s not been safe to dip your toes in the lake of wine coming from Robert Mondavi Inc., as any of you who’ve had the disappointment of tasting its declining quality during the late nineties and early 2000s can attest. I’ll never forget Robert Parker’s review of Mondavi’s 1997 line-up, from the basic Napa Valley reds to the regal Opus One: you could feel the pain Parker was experiencing as he went through sample after sample, looking for but never finding, a glimmer of the world-class vintages Mondavi promised and delivered during the peak of his success as a vintner in the seventies and eighties. And any of y’all who have read The House of Mondavi: The Rise and Fall of an American Wine Dynasty, the very interesting book published last year about the up and down of Robert’s wine business, including a scandalously detailed section on his successful lawsuit against his own family at Charles Krug, are aware that the tables recently turned when Mondavi was forced to give up control of his own winery and sell to Constellation, a mega-conglomerate based in New York.

For the surprise happy ending to this tragedy, click here:

From the perspective of business and paterfamilias, it’s a sad story. But I’m experiencing a happy ending from my place at the tasting bar. I bought a bottle of 2004 Oakville Cabernet at Costco for about $35 last month, drank it with a plateful of lasagna, and let me tell you, I was ecstatic. I don’t know what Mondavi’s new owners have done, but it’s working. Actually, this delicious bottle is probably the result of what Constellation hasn’t done — that is, whoever they put in charge of winemaking must simply be allowing Mondavi’s prime vineyards make the fruit they’re famous for and then restraining from F-ing it up in the winery. Back are the flavors that great Napa cabernet is known for: ripe red and black fruit, coffee, pepper, and just the right dose of oak.

So suit up, take my word for it, and dive in.