Roger Morris of The Drinks Business joined the Chateau Montelena “Dream” Tasting in NYC on June 27th. Bo Barrett took a room full of eager guests through 5 decades of Estate Cabernet Sauvignon, dating back to 1974 and all served out of magnum. Morris states, “Each of the wines was sound, and each vintage tasted as though it had more years to age. Surprisingly, there was a great continuity of style between vintages in spite of the addition of better machinery, new oak barrels, drip irrigation and the addition of hillside estate vineyards…”
The “Dream” refers to Jim Barrett’s vision for creating world class Cabernet Sauvignon that could, like the great First Growths of Bordeaux, stand the test of time. It’s no secret that Montelena has remained a pillar of the classicly balanced California Cabernet camp, and their wines do indeed age in an extraordinary way.
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Chateau Montelena
Calistoga, Napa Valley, California
In 1976 Chateau Montelena put California at the forefront of the wine world. That year a who's-who of the French wine establishment gathered in Paris for a blind tasting of French and American wines. When the scores were tallied, the top-ranking white wine was Chateau Montelena's 1973 Chardonnay. Montelena today continues to be a quality benchmark in Napa Valley, producing some of the finest Cabernet and Chardonnay in California.