1984 Chateau Montelena Cabernet Sauvignon The Montelena Estate

Community Tasting Notes (97) Avg Score: 91.6 points

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  4/6/2024 - Craig15 Likes this wine: 93 Points

  Opened for my wife’s 40th birthday. Purchased at auction and the wine was in wonderful shape.
  
  Clear rim and slight bricking. Anise, cassis, red fruit, vanilla, dill, herbs, light floral notes on the nose. Palate leaned into red fruit with the herbs and vanilla. The fruit was amazingly fresh for a bottle of this age. Still a lot of structure with quite a bit of acid and supple tannins.
  
  I’d probably have guessed this wine was 20 years old if I had tasted it blind. It is aging so gracefully. Took about a half hour to open up. Stayed in a really nice spot for 2-3 hours then the fruit started to fade.

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  4/2/2024 - acyso wrote: 93 Points

  "There's a lot of fish at Montrose Harbor" (Chicago, IL): Another solid 1984 cabernet showing with this wine. This has a bit of a herbal lift, and some pencil-shaving like qualities on the palate. Leaning towards black fruit here, but with mostly resolved tannins and a bit of a leathery quality as well. Good density and overall complexity here.

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  12/24/2023 - oldwines Likes this wine: 91 Points

  Served as part of a trio of birth year wines for three of my daughters in attendance this Christmas Eve… 1984 Montelena Estate, 2004 Peter Michael Les Pavots and 2006 Bravia Garblet Suè. In my cellar since release. Decanted this later than I should have, around 4pm. At first it was quite musty and I suspected TCA/Cork taint. Palate was obscured. I ran it through a venturi aerator 6 times over an hour or more and it started to open and lose some of the mustiness. Another 1-2 hours passed before we served dinner and by then things had improved markedly. Though I still suspect this may have been slightly flawed. The nose and palate had both earthy elements like mushroom and rich fruit elements like black plum and blackberry. There was good acidity and the wine was rather silky. The color was lightly bricked medium garnet at first but by the time we ate it was markedly redder garnet and showing little brick. I know there are more pristine bottles others have had. This one was not the best but still enjoyable with roast Filet of Beef. One more bottle in the cellar that I hope is a step up. I don’t think this is “over the hill” since it showed such improvement with time as is typical with Montelena Estate Cab’s especially from the last century. The style here is always long-lived in all but a few vintages in my experience.

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  11/3/2023 - nywine68 wrote: 94 Points

  A classic example of how well the older Napa Cabs age. This still has copious amounts of fruit but also showcases beautiful secondary aromas and flavors. Stewed raspberries and red licorice followed by more earthy and umami flavors like beef bouillon. Not the most complex but nonetheless delicious. This is drinking at its peak right now.

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  12/26/2022 - JCA49 wrote: 95 Points

  10 years later from my last tasting note on this wine. Also from magnum at chez moi with two women neighbor Naval officers, and a prime rib. Double decanted for 2 hrs. Cherry fruit, currants, spice, and, as the women said, "rum soaked raisins" on the nose, agreeing with the wife of another reviewer. It was almost port-like. Wonderful mouth feel. Cherries, raspberry, mint and spices. There was enough acid to delineate the flavors. All the tannins were resolved, and the finish was balanced and long. I don't see it getting better; so if you have a bottle don't hesitate to open it.

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