2002 Chateau Montelena Cabernet Sauvignon The Montelena Estate

Community Tasting Notes (315) Avg Score: 92.7 points

• Options

  • Post a Comment
  • View Decanting Queen's profile
  • Report Issue

  4/7/2024 - Decanting Queen wrote: 89 Points

  Not the best showing of this wine but not sure I would go all the way to flawed. Opened a few days ago and seemed very sherry like with a sour finish. I wasn’t sure if it was the other wines I had open or me or a flaw. Put some away and tried again day 3, much better but still below expectations.
  
  Big plummy fruit, Christmas spices, fruit a little stewed/sherries. More in balance than day one and finish is long and smooth. This was pleasant but not as great as I know this wine can be.

  3 people found this helpful, do you? Yes - No / Comments (4)

• Options

  • Post a Comment
  • View Fftjr's profile
  • Report Issue

  2/27/2024 - Fftjr Likes this wine: 95 Points

  Excellent. Deep ruby. Inviting nose. Well balanced. Plenty of berry and cassis. Has another 5 years minimum

  3 people found this helpful, do you? Yes - No / Comment

• Options

  • Post a Comment
  • View oldwines's profile
  • Report Issue

  2/24/2024 - oldwines Likes this wine: 96 Points

  In my cellar since release. Decanted at 4pm (a little later than I had planned due to a delay in my daughter’s soccer/“football” game) and tasted from 6-11pm. 14.3% ABV (high for Montelena of old). This wine is shockingly youthful, opaque dark garnet with a bright crimson meniscus and zero bricking. The nose exhibits some new oak derived scents of vanilla, tobacco, cedar, also quite spicy along both the sweet and picante spectrums. Tannins are still there but more than half integrated. Bright natural acidity. Fruit is complex…cassis, black raspberry, plum, blackberry and lots of underpinning minerals and floral elements like violets. Complex, layered, long on the finish and balanced. Classic old-school Napa Cab, NOT over-ripe, over-extracted or over-oaked. As always with Montelena Estate Cab, this needs a long decant. Gorgeous with grilled steaks. I would say this could age nicely for another decade or two effortlessly in a cool cellar.

  2 people found this helpful, do you? Yes - No / Comments (8)

• Options

  • Post a Comment
  • View heathenone@msn.com's profile
  • Report Issue

  12/16/2023 - heathenone@msn.com Likes this wine: 93 Points

  At Somm's Kitchen's Bordeaux's tasting. Brought as a ringer, which worked well with the theme. Not at all tired. Good color, with no bricking at thte rim evident. Wonderful aromatics, pallet, and flavors. Opened and poured right away. Was great upon opening, and blossomed more over the next 2 hours in the glass. Will continue to hold steady for years to come!

  3 people found this helpful, do you? Yes - No / Comment

• Options

  • Post a Comment
  • View buckeye76's profile
  • Report Issue

  12/3/2023 - buckeye76 Likes this wine: 92 Points

  Ruby color. Blackberries blackcurrants, licorice and spice with hints of chocolate and espresso in the nose. Deep concentrated fruit in the flavor, blackberries, black cherries and some earthiness. An elegant wine, medium bodied and a medium to long finish.

  1 person found this helpful, do you? Yes - No / Comment

View all 315 Community Tasting Notes

Professional reviews have copyrights and you can view them here for your personal use only as private content. To view pro reviews you must either subscribe to a pre-integrated publication or manually enter reviews below. Learn more.