Chateau Montelena Vertical Tasting
Our Farm in NJ
Tasted Friday, October 24, 2025 by oldwines with 114 views
Introduction
I have been wanting to do this for a long time and finally had the opportunity. I first decided to do the Estate Cabernet Sauvignon, then, later chose to add 4 vintages of the Napa Chard as well. I chose 13 vintages from my cellar based on availability and the absence of conflict with vintages I want to keep for our anniversary (2001) and birth years of my children and grandchildren. As a result, I chose 1994, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013. I chose to stop at 2013 even though I do have consecutive vintages to the present because its a great vintage that I wanted to check in on and at 12 years old is just beginning to be approachable in my experience with the Montelena Estate Cab since the first vintage. A friend added a bottle of the 1987 as well to complete the list. For the Chardonnay flight, I chose my last bottles of 2007 and 2008 (fearing they could be over the hill) as well as the 2013 and 2018.
All 4 of the Chards were opened about an hour before they were tasted, mostly from about 5pm through 7pm. A few bottles of other white wines had been enjoyed by 4 of the guests and I, prior to the “official” start at 5pm as we prepared the food.
All of the Cabs were decanted in the order I thought they needed to be opened starting at 10am with the youngest bottles. They were all given 15-30 minutes in a decanter then slowly poured back into the cleaned out bottle (i.e. double decanted) and left uncorked until tasting began. As always with Montelena Estate Cab I firmly believe, from pretty vast experience, that more aeration is required than most people expect. And when doing such a large tasting, without wanting to wash so many decanters, I have found that double decanting a couple at a time, in the morning of the event works quite well. As it seems to have done in this case.
All the food was prepared by the group and I. In addition to some light appetizers throughout the afternoon and evening, I baked some of my signature sourdough baguettes (which I was told were my best to date). Glenn (aka vinous_operandi) worked tirelessly on a variety of pizza’s with only marginal help from me. (We did prepare the dough, some Dauphinoise potatoes and duck confit 2 days prior.) My brother, Frank and his son-in-law, Eric, prepared braised short ribs and polenta as well as a lovely ratatouille-like dish that we chose to serve with the fourth course of Grilled Elk.
Flight 1 - Chardonnay with pizza and salad (4 Notes)
Glenn’s pizza’s were terrific, though he was not perfectly satisfied with the stretch in the dough we had prepared with my sourdough starter (first time used for pizza dough.) There were some traditional Margherita Style as well as a variety of white pies of a small to medium size. After the pizzas we served the salad which was an arugula, fennel and mandarin salad with a white wine and lemon vinaigrette topped with warm duck confit and shaved Parmigiano.
Flight 2 - Braised Beef Short Ribs over Polenta and Wood-Fire Grilled Elk Backstrap with Dauphinoise Potatoes and roasted Mixed Squash (14 Notes)
Both these dishes were great with the Cabs (some of which were also tasted with the previous two dishes.
On the whole the 1987, 1997, 1999, 2010 and 2013 vintages seemed to stand out just a bit above the others with various of the attendees preferring one of more of these vintages.
Closing
There was only one wine I didn’t care for among the 18 wines tasted, the 2007 Chard, otherwise the wines were all a pleasure to drink. As is pretty consistent with my ratings, it takes something really extraordinary in a wine to merit a 98-100 point score and none quite made that level in this instance. Initially, most of the group and I felt the 1987 was the star of the show and it was, for sure, Superb. It did seem to fade however by the end of the evening, whereas, several of the other vintages improved, some of them significantly on days 2 and 3 (notably the 2013 which could in time score at the highest level.) It was however quite striking how similar and consistently great all these wines were. The classic, “old-school” Cali/Napa style that these wines represent is truly special in a world where over-ripe, over-extracted, purple, jam bombs get the attention and stupidly high scores from too many “pro’s”! These were wines of elegance, class and distinction that paired wonderfully with good food, letting both the food and the wine express their most ethereal qualities!
Thanks to everyone who participated and helped along the way, especially Glenn, Frank and Eric!
2007 Chateau Montelena Chardonnay Napa Valley 88 Points
USA, California, Napa Valley
One of 4 vintages of Montelena Chard tasted along with 14 vintages of the Estate Cab and the only Chard really showing age degradation. My last bottle. This was a medium golden yellow color. The nose exhibited nutty, caramel and buttered popcorn notes along with a little vanilla. The palate was pretty rich and chewy with degraded medium(-) acidity. There was some orchard fruit but more than a little masked by some oxidative notes. Finish had burnt marshmallow. This was not undrinkable by any stretch but clearly also not pristine especially when compared to previous bottles from the same case last tasted 6 years ago. It was an interesting contrast to the 2008, 2013 and 2018 Chards, particularly so, since the 2008 was gorgeous!
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2008 Chateau Montelena Chardonnay Napa Valley 95 Points
USA, California, Napa Valley
My last bottle from a case purchased in March 2011, among 4 vintages of Montelena Chard tasted alongside 14 vintages of Montelena Estate Cab. This was a bright, light to medium lemon yellow. The nose smelled pristine with fragrant floral and orchard fruit notes. Medium(+) acidity. Bright flavors of yellow apple, pear, white flowers and light slightly spicy herbs. Beautifully balanced, bright and energetic. Wonderful! And quite a stark contrast in how this had aged compared to the 2007. This was the favorite chard for several of the attendees and my #2.
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2013 Chateau Montelena Chardonnay Napa Valley 93 Points
USA, California, Napa Valley
My first of 6 bottles purchased in 2016. Among 4 vintages of Montelena Chard tasted before 14 vintages of the Estate Cab. The “pro” reviews I read do not do this wine justice. It has aged marvelously though a step or two below the 2008 and 2018 vintages. The color is a light to medium lemon yellow. Medium acidity and a rich texture blend with light florals and just a hint of oxidation that seemed to fade with air. Nose and palate are classic with orchard fruit, white florals. A bit more forward than the ‘08 and ‘18. Quite mineral on the finish.
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2018 Chateau Montelena Chardonnay Napa Valley 96 Points
USA, California, Napa Valley
One of 4 vintages of Montelena Chard tasted before 14 vintages of Estate Cab. This was amazing with a light greenish yellow color. Fragrant florals, apple, pear and lemon highlight the nose. Rich texture and medium(+) acidity. Palate is saline, mineral and white fruited with pear, Asian pear, yellow apple and huge Meyer lemon. Very long gorgeous finish. So balanced and energetic, this has many years of wonderful drinking ahead. My favorite Chard on the evening and also for a slight majority of the group, just slightly beating the 2008 vintage in my view.
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