Showing items 1
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13
Chateau Montelena 2002 Montelena Estate Cabernet Sauvignon (Napa Valley)
- Cellar Selection
- $95
Right now this wine is strutting its stuff, showing dense, fudge-like scents of tobacco, cassis and whiffs of vanilla and coconut and flavors of blackberry with lashings of vanilla and cocoa. But like many vintages of Montelena, expect this one to shut down in another year only to reemerge as a beauty around age 10 or 12. Another classic.
— J.C.
(9/1/2006)
Chateau Montelena 2007 The Montelena Estate Cabernet Sauvignon (Calistoga)
- Cellar Selection
- $135
Not a wine for drinking now or anytime soon. It’s so hard in tannins, it basically locks down the palate, and the astringency seems to accentuate the acidity and dryness. However, there is a deep core of blackberry essence and, after all, this is Montelena. All indications are that it will be a terrific wine in another 8 or 10 years.
— S.H.
(2/1/2012)
Chateau Montelena 2003 Cabernet Sauvignon (Napa Valley)
- Cellar Selection
- $40
Too young to enjoy now. The tannins and acids are such that they lock the wine down. The fruit tastes sharp and jammy, and the alcohol, even though it isn’t high, sticks out. But it’s all there, including oodles of blackberries, cherries, licorice and spice. Needs time. Give it until 2009.
— S.H.
(12/1/2006)
Chateau Montelena 2005 The Montelena Estate Cabernet Sauvignon (Napa Valley)
- Cellar Selection
- $135
Quite rich and exotic, with complex, appealing flavors of cocoa puff, mocha, buttered cinnamon toast, blackberry granola and smoky cedar. This richness finishes drily, but the wine is very tannic, giving it a lock-down astringency. Needs time. Best after 2011, and through 2015 or so.
— S.H.
(3/1/2010)
Chateau Montelena 1996 Chardonnay (Napa Valley)
- $29
Another great, ageworthy Chard from this venerable Napa winery. Balanced, rich and fruity, with all the spicy, creamy complexities you’d expect from pull-out-the-stops winemaking. The ripe sweetness shines through on the palate, made complex with oak and buttery notes.
— S.H.
(6/1/1999)
Chateau Montelena 2006 Cabernet Sauvignon (Napa Valley)
- $49
There’s some bitterness in this young Cab, enough to interfere with the blackberry and cherry-herb fruit. Tastes very dry, with puckery-astringent tannins. It’s quite a good, rich wine, in a rustic way, and should age for some time, but lacks an essential richness.
— S.H.
(3/1/2010)
Chateau Montelena 1998 Chardonnay (Napa Valley)
- $30
The historic estate’s 1998 is characteristically lean, angular and fairly closed. The bouquet of apple cider, anise, and fragrant jasmine-like notes opens to a trim palate of green apple and toast flavors, and a taut mouthfeel. Tart apple and oak, plus a flinty, mineral element play on the finish. Notoriously tight when young, this wine often opens incredibly with…
— W.E.
(7/1/2001)
Chateau Montelena 2008 Cabernet Sauvignon (Napa Valley)
- $49
Starts out fine and impressive, but as this wine breathes a certain imbalance emerges. There’s a green unripeness to the blackberries and cherries, although the wine does exhibit fine tannins and a balanced approach to oak. Drink now.
— S.H.
(2/1/2012)
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