Excellent — 2 months ago
honeydew, lime, kiwi, and white peach. Light and tropical with good acidity. My husband liked this one too, which usually translates to crowd pleasing. — 6 months ago
1998 vintage. Been waiting to taste this one again for over two decades. 1998 wasn't the best Napa Cab vintage. The best 98's were generally mountain fruit-like the Dunn Howell Mountain. When this was released back in the day, it was brawny, taut and tannic but still maintained balance. This Montelena 1998 Estate Cab was better than nearly everyone's 1997 (an acclaimed/excellent across the board) Napa cabs back then. FF 23 years later...surprise! Some things haven't changed. Decanted and tasted after 10 mins, 30 mins and 2 hrs. Excellent fill and cork. Throwing respectable sed. Massive color. Great aged, leathery nose. Still medium heavy bod. Baking chocolate, ripe plum and grilled beef in the flavor profile. Consistent performer through the entry, mid and back palate hoops without drop-off during the ceremony. Tannins still evident but well-integrated with the abundance of fruit. Not improving but this is rock steady and in a very sweet spot/top of the bell curve for at least another decade. It was worth the wait. 6.29.24. — a month ago
Floral, jasmine, and honeysuckle. Crisp finish and well balanced. — 2 months ago
2019 vintage. From a 375 ml format. Amongst what passes for the ne plus ultra in Napa cabbage these days. Rich. Overtly sumptuous. Modicum of umami on the finish. Restrained/polite company version of a fruit bomb. Too extracted/manipulated without representative tannins for this old-school Dunn/Diamond Creek/Mayacamas/Montelena guy but still verry nice for this style. Dunno where this settles in twenty years but that's someone else's problem down the road. 7.7.24. — 19 days ago
Bold flavors from this excellent wine, that may have been just a little bit past its prime. But a fantastic accompaniment to the Prime stakes we shared at Hanna‘s for for the birthdays of our friends the Swanson and the Bailey‘s. #napacabs #napavalleyred #chateaumontalena — 2 months ago
Took a while to open up but once it did it was very nice. Dark berries and blueberries with some noticeable acid and tannins. Could be laid down for many more years. — 4 months ago
Andrea Watt
Bright citrus and melon over jasmine, oak, and pear. Crisp acidity balanced out by rich flavor. — 9 days ago