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| Drinking Windows and Values |
| Community Tasting History |
| Community Tasting Notes (average 93.7 pts. and median of 94 pts. in 290 notes) - hiding notes with no text | | | Tasted by N.Bonaparte on 3/15/2024 & rated 93 points: 6th time drinking this. Last time was 16 months ago. I decanted this for an hour which was about right. This was a good bottle but certainly not the best bottle I’ve had of this. This had some drier fruits up front compared to prior bottles. This still had nice balance with a long dry finish. Good bottles should still drink well for 3-5 years at least. The last time I drank this with the owner of Zakin winery and she text Heidi Barret to tell her how good this was, which was pretty cool. Anyways, this was still delicious and paired well with wagyu filet, iberico ham, bone marrow and sweet potato. Sadly my last bottle. (523 views) | | | Tasted by Luvwine1 on 2/13/2024 & rated 93 points: Initially, the nose was concerning. It smelled of tea, the cork had split, and I thought perhaps it was flawed. Over time, the nose came around and if not pleasant, it was less objectionable with some fruit coming through. I tasted it and found lovely sweet fruit, medium body, good length, some eucalyptus and mushroom and, well, it was lovely and balanced as we drank it with some NY strip steaks. Good stuff. Wish I had more. (911 views) | | | Tasted by Kim Yong-in on 12/19/2023 & rated 94 points: It still has nice fruit note with elegant acidity. On the nose, blackcurrant with smooth oak and mushroom. On the palate, vevelty tannins and high acidity. Not yet over the peak. (1078 views) | | | Tasted by SpenceP on 10/20/2023 & rated 97 points: Just a beautiful wine! I tend to avoid decanting, but this wine needs over two hours (I was watching the clock for once) in the glass to be at its best, so even I concede that a decant (I have no idea how long) might well be a good idea. Immediately after opening, the wine is misleadingly enjoyable, but not nearly as good as it will become. Blackberries, black plums, tobacco, blueberries, a hint of grilled meat or iodine, a touch of mint and of melon, amazingly light on its feet and utterly graceful, and followed by a phenomenally intense and endless aftertaste. Previously tasted 5/23/22 and 8/17/23. I initially scored this at 94 points, and raised it to 96 after an hour and a half in the glass. It only reached 97 after a little over two hours in the glass. As I said, either decant or plan a very slow long dinner! Should continue to be very very special for at least another three years and probably longer. [Tasted over more than two hours from the Jancis Robinson glass. I gave this bottle a week and a half upright for the sediment to settle out.] (1393 views) | | | Tasted by mick978@gmail.com on 9/29/2023 & rated 90 points: Start drinking these. Still have good life but on their way down. (1424 views) | | | Tasted by Gunakadeit on 9/16/2023 & rated 94 points: Dark red fruits, iodine, a little meat and musk. Feral. Slightly over the hill maybe, but quite unctuous. (1323 views) | | | Tasted by SpenceP on 8/17/2023 & rated 97 points: What a breathtaking wine! Deceptively light and graceful, with tobacco, blackberries, cherries, plums, iodine, mint, and vanilla, as well as vibrant acidity, and, even after all these decades, still a touch of tannin. Moving into the aftertaste, it becomes if anything even more amazingly present and almost endless. Wonderful from the moment the bottle is opened, but even better after about 45 minutes in the glass, and better yet after an hour and a half--the score started at 95 points and gradually crept up. This should continue to be stunning for at least another seven years, and probably longer. [Tasted over more than an hour and a half from both the Conterno and Jancis Robinson glasses--the wine was different but equally magical from both. The description merges the two glasses. I gave the bottle more than a week upright for the sediment to settle out.] Previously tasted 5/23/22. (1400 views) | | | Tasted by G SQUARED on 4/7/2023 & rated 96 points: Absolutely stunning bottle of wine. Storage of this wine over the years had to have bene perfect. The tannins were as smooth as silk and glided along the tongue effortlessly and mouthwateringly. Steven mentioned he couldn't help but wanting to take another sip every time he tried the wine. Spicy black and blue berries with just a hint of earthiness. None of the Bret that this producer is sometimes famous for in vintage through the 90's. Bravo! (1905 views) | | | Tasted by Tgood on 2/12/2023: 55F since acquisition on release. Med ruby - no amber at edge - restrained clean nose of cedar, briary stuff and tart plum. Tannins resolved. (1805 views) | | | Tasted by chablis28 on 12/22/2022 & rated 95 points: Dinner with Wayne at Kevin's. Local Twin Cities beloved Chef Don Saunders killed it for our crew at Kevin's place. 11 of us were treated to a night with Kevin's spry 91yr old dad who delighted everyone! Wayne Loves Cabernet & BDX so we had some potentially monumental reds to compliment a great night while 30 below MN temps whipped at the door. Thanks Kevin! WB,KB,VB,CV,DD,JV,BB,ML,LI,CS & SS. Matt Ls wine. This was in a trio flt of a '01 Shafer HHS & a 91 Mondavi Cab Res. This seemed to split the difference between the completely old school terrtiary '91 Mondavi and the big rich '01 HHS. I really enjoyed this wine! Thanks Matt! (2021 views) | | | Tasted by Bellissimo on 12/22/2022: Slow Owd for 2 hours. Shared with friends at a large gathering. Followed one glass over 45 minutes or so. Tasted along side a '91 Mondavi Reserve and an '01 Shafer Hillside Select (yeah it was an awesome filight).
Nose at first was a little restrained but opened after around 15 minutes in the glass. Dried cherries, graphite, sage and bay leaf coming through on the nose. Palate was a little darker fruit with cassis and blackberry, more graphite, tobacco and earthy undertone. Tannins are evident but oh so silky after 31 years.
Compared to its partners I think the Mondavii offered a little more acids and complexity where the Shafer was more modern. What an absolute treasure to share with friends. (1651 views) | | | Tasted by rocknroller on 12/22/2022 & rated 95 points: Dinner with Dad: Aged Napa, Bordeaux & Don Saunders (Rocknroller's (Kevin & Vicki's Place)): Very dark red, 5mm transition. PNP, drank a glass over 90 minutes. This was in really good shape, deeper dark fruit with structure and color that belies its 30 plus years of age. Dried earth, dried herbs, pencil, anise, and dark fruits on the nose. The palate is lovely, showing cassis, blackberry, pencil, dried earth, gravel and round tannins. This surely has some longevity yet. Love it, and it might actually get better yet. Drank this next to the sublime '91 Robert Mondavi Reserve which is more red fruited and reflective of its age, yet nowhere near finished. What a flight. (2149 views) | | | Tasted by N.Bonaparte on 12/17/2022 & rated 94 points: 9 months since my last bottle. This only needs 20 min in the glass to open up. Fully mature and would be hard to identify this as new world in a blind tasting. At 14% alcohol, this presents with equal amounts fruit and secondary notes. A very well balanced wine with a long finish. Certainly in its prime with another 3-5 years of solid drinking. Revisit 2024 (1353 views) | | | Tasted by Rezy13 on 10/14/2022: Wines with 25+ Years Non-Blind (Bin 75 Alpharetta, GA): Great color, dark crimson; deep nose, tons of fruit, ripeness, eucalyptus, sage, bay leaf, more sap and glycerin than Bordeaux, creamier and seamless on the palate, black currant, lovely tobacco, clearly well stored, fantastic and still so young and vertical. (1669 views) | | | Tasted by Nguyenning on 8/21/2022 & rated 93 points: While it might be past it's prime, it's not over-the-hill. It's still probably the best cab I've tasted in the past year. It likely had more depth a couple years ago, but it does take an hour or so to evolve in the glass. Leathery with a little acid. (1720 views) | | | Tasted by Templeuve on 8/7/2022 & rated 93 points: Everyone knows this wine by now so I won’t rehash characteristics which make it one of the finest California wines. However perhaps this vintage isn’t one of the better ones so I’m not overwhelmed by this one.It definitely improves an hour of decanting but not much after. (1560 views) | | | Tasted by Diane (LI) on 7/31/2022: Rich, dark cherry, milk chocolate, florals, and good acidity with a deliciously long finish. We had it with a NY strip, and it was fantastic. (1754 views) | | | Tasted by SpenceP on 5/23/2022 & rated 97 points: Quietly gorgeous. Very restrained--in a blind tasting I would have guessed a great Bordeaux rather than California--it's not a wine that instantly grabs your attention, but it totally rewards all the attention you give to it. Dried cherries, tobacco, iodine, blackberries, mint, earth, a lot of acidity, still some tannin, all in a strikingly silky texture, and culminating in an incredibly long aftertaste that was if anything even more intense an experience than the direct taste--the ethereal essence of everything that went before. A bit muted when first poured, it woke up after about 20 minutes in the glass, and then continued to develop over the next four hours, changing a bit over time in the details (the tobacco in particular became more and more prominent) but without any change in the overall picture. This should be stunning for another ten years and maybe longer. One of the greatest wines I've ever tasted. (2010 views) | | | Tasted by NoGraves on 4/27/2022 & rated 95 points: I have had this 10-12 times and it continues to amaze. Beautiful deep garnet, no bricking with floral notes on the nose. Initial taste was full of berries and soft tannins. Some 2 1/2 hours later the fruit and complexity faded, but just a tiny bit and the tannins were a bit more pronounced. If bought on release and stored well (as mine were), I am expecting it has another 8-10 years of great drinking. Alas, just 1 bottle left, but then we move on to the 1991 Dominus (91 is my daughter's birth year). (1894 views) | | | Tasted by Fftjr on 3/4/2022 & rated 95 points: This never ceases to amaze me. Pretty much WOWs my friends too. At 31, you’d think it would be getting a little tired. Not at all. Extremely welled balanced with the ability to continue (2064 views) | | | Tasted by N.Bonaparte on 3/4/2022 & rated 94 points: Another stellar bottle. Needs 20 min in the glass. Nearly old world Bordeaux. This bottle has another decade plus of life. Again, this is great value and worth seeking out. (2027 views) | | | Tasted by oldwines on 2/12/2022 & rated 95 points: In my cellar since release. Decanted at 4pm and tasted through the evening with dinner expected around 8pm. On first opening the nose was effusive and incredibly complex. It showed red floral notes along with red and black berries, tobacco, cedar, licorice, graphite and chocolate. The color is a lustrous medium garnet with absolutely no sign of age despite its 30+ years. The palate at first is very tight and closed but showing some plum. The tannin are mostly integrated with a nice silky mouth feel and still relatively bright acidity. At the 1 hour and 2 hour points, the nose was a little less effusive but still complex and the palate was starting to open showing the plum along with black raspberry, cassis, graphite and leather. The finish is long and chewy with some black fruit and chocolate showing through. More as the evening unfolds…
By 8pm it was wonderful with grilled steaks. It remained elegant, supremely balanced and delicious through the 9pm hour when it was finished.
This is one for the ages…probably still able to improve and nowhere near diminishment. A Classic “old-school” Cali Cab with old world styling. (2408 views) | | | Tasted by englishman's claret on 12/12/2021 & rated 93 points: What a uniformly dark profile - blackberry, prune, black licorice, nori, dark earth and forest notes. The fruit here is just over-ripe in my estimation, though that doesn’t keep it from being enjoyable by any stretch of the imagination. It’s interesting to see this looking both ways, embodying a classical mentality yet equally looking to a future of riper wines in Napa. Not quite my thing, but I get it. (3560 views) | | | Tasted by ChrisR on 12/11/2021: I suppose this was correct for the variety, but it was not entirely pleasant. Funky nose gave toned down with some air, Cassis battled with a sharp, bitter, almost acrid green element. Still quite structured with dry tannins. I couldn't get past the bitter green: sometimes shifting between tobacco (fine by me) and an aggressive kale/vegetal flavor (unpalatable to me). Disappointing overall. (2301 views) | | | Tasted by Marc on 10/7/2021 & rated 94 points: Outstanding showing of a fully mature, ripe, Napa Cabernet. Currants, earth, plum, a very slight oxidative tawny port aspect, very tannic, very developed, not a hint of drying on the back palate. Focused nose and structured palate add definition to what is a very ripe style of wine making. Not at all monolithic, this is nuanced despite its dimension, and the herbaceous and mineral notes, as well as the lifted bouquet mark this as a fine wine. It is likely past it’s peak, but will continue to develop and offer different nuance for another decade in a cold cellar. I would have rated this higher except for the slight tawny aspect, which while a delicious part of the wine currently, may come to dominate, if it was not just an individual bottle variation. (2776 views) | | | Only displaying the 25 most recent notes - click to see all notes for this wine... |
| By Neal Martin
Vinous, Vinous Table: St. John, Lodon, United Kingdom (Oct 2020) (10/1/2020)
(Chateau Montelena Cabernet Sauvignon Estate Napa Valley Red) Subscribe to see review text. | By Stephen Tanzer
Vinous, Chateau Montelena Cabernet Estate: 1977-2010 (May 2019) (5/1/2019)
(Chateau Montelena Cabernet Sauvignon Estate Montelena Napa Valley Red) Subscribe to see review text. | By Antonio Galloni
Vinous, Looking Back at Napa Valley Icons (Oct 2014) (9/1/2014)
(Chateau Montelena Cabernet Sauvignon Napa Valley) Subscribe to see review text. | By John Gilman
View From the Cellar, Jan/Feb 2010, Issue #25, The 1991 California Cabernets- Should There Be More Great Wines?
(Château Montelena “Estate” Cabernet Sauvignon) Login and sign up and see review text. | By Richard Jennings
RJonWine.com (8/25/2011)
(Chateau Montelena Cabernet Sauvignon The Montelena Estate) Group's #3 (my #4) – 66 pts.; 2, 2, 1, 1 - bricking dark red violet color; mature, weedy, tart black fruit, ripe plum nose; mature, earthy, tart black fruit, charcoal, tar palate; medium-plus finish (a disappointing showing from this producer) 88 points |
NOTE: Scores and reviews are the property of Vinous and View From the Cellar and RJonWine.com. (manage subscription channels) |
| Chateau Montelena Producer website
Very DETAILED history of the property
From winery:
What’s not to like about the weather in 2018? The late spring rains in March and April were very productive and the vines responded with plentiful growth into summer. Unusually low nighttime temperatures coupled with warm to hot days magnified the acidity in the fruit, creating elegant structure for extending aging, rather than overtly jammy flavor. Harvest was slow and methodical as subtle variations in soil and sun exposure magnified the typically nuanced differences in ripening and maturation.
NOSE PALATE FINISH
Fresh and lively, the wine opens effusively with raspberry, mint and plum sauce. The baking spices soon follow, leaning clove initially but with plenty of cedar and vanilla. Still subtle, the ripe fruit elements, mostly cassis and fig at this stage, lurk beneath the surface along with beautiful hints of graphite and toasted sage, awaiting additional time in glass.
HARVEST DATES
September 20 – October 25
ALCOHOL
14.2%
BLEND
98% Cabernet Sauvignon 1.5% Petit Verdot 0.5% Cabernet Franc
Still very tightly wound, it’s the texture and mouthfeel that drive the palate initially. The tannins in particular are somewhat coarse but not so angular to overshadow the abundant dark fruit. The dynamic tension on the midpalate serves to focus and magnify the layers of black cherry, cocoa powder, and black pepper, before turning slightly earthy and dusty. The structure is pronounced, but still harmonious and well defined.
Technical Information
BARREL AGING
22 months in 100% French oak, 40% new
BOTTLING DATE
August 2020
It’s in the transition to the finish that the acidity materializes in almost candy-like fashion, a beautiful contrast to the supple tannins. Here the wine’s density shines elegantly, well balanced between smoky, espresso bean and delicate, dried blackberry. It’s the latter that defines the finish at this moment, persistent in length and depth.
WINEMAKER
Matt Crafton
Cabernet SauvignonCabernet Sauvignon is probably the most famous red wine grape variety on Earth. It is rivaled in this regard only by its Bordeaux stablemate Merlot, and its opposite number in Burgundy, Pinot Noir. From its origins in Bordeaux, Cabernet has successfully spread to almost every winegrowing country in the world. It is now the key grape variety in many first-rate New World wine regions, most notably Napa Valley, Coonawarra and Maipo Valley. Wherever they come from, Cabernet Sauvignon wines always seem to demonstrate a handful of common character traits: deep color, good tannin structure, moderate acidity and aromas of blackcurrant, tomato leaf, dark spices and cedarwood.
Used as frequently in blends as in varietal wines, Cabernet Sauvignon has a large number of common blending partners. Apart from the obvious Merlot and Cabernet Franc, the most prevalent of these are Malbec, Petit Verdot and Carmenere (the ingredients of a classic Bordeaux Blend), Shiraz (in Australia's favorite blend) and in Spain and South America, a Cabernet – Tempranillo blend is now commonplace. Even the bold Tannat-based wines of Madiran are now generally softened with Cabernet SauvignonUSAAmerican wine has been produced since the 1500s, with the first widespread production beginning in New Mexico in 1628. Today, wine production is undertaken in all fifty states, with California producing 84% of all U.S. wine. The continent of North America is home to several native species of grape, including Vitis labrusca, Vitis riparia, Vitis rotundifolia, and Vitis vulpina, but the wine-making industry is based almost entirely on the cultivation of the European Vitis vinifera, which was introduced by European settlers. With more than 1,100,000 acres (4,500 km2) under vine, the United States is the fourth-largest wine producing country in the world, after Italy, Spain, and France.California2021 vintage: "Unlike almost all other areas of the state, the Russian River Valley had higher than normal crops in 2021, which has made for a wine of greater generosity and fruit forwardness than some of its stablemates." - Morgan Twain-Peterson Napa Valley Napa Valley Wineries and Wine (Napa Valley Vintners)Napa ValleySt. Helena |
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