Ira Schwartz

9.2

One can not help but to get excited when you see an iconic producer and an almost 50 year old bottle. The nose is Bordeaux like with elements of old wooden furniture, , leather, and an autumn day in the woods. On the palate those elements meet up with plums and dark berries . A wine held together by structure. Would have loved to have tried 10-15 years ago. — 8 months ago

Conrad Green

9.6

Plush and plummy. Dark fruit. Rich and lucid with hints of iodine and dried herbs. Gorgeous stuff. Very pure — a year ago

with BOT, Jean-Francois and 2 others

Shay A

9.2

One of the bottles I provided for a co-hosting with Mark at the City Club wine group.

Always a treat to open a birth year wine. I had this last year and this bottle seemed to have more stuffing. It was less muddled/clay driven and more distinctly black fruit and spice heavy. Next to a ‘79 Montelena, it wasn’t as full-bodied, but it certainly had more tannin. The tannic finish was quite pronounced and bolstered throughout the lunch. Mid-palate was herbal and black currant with faint tart red fruit and tobacco. Fun to drink. — 3 years ago

Sara Hallihan

9.0

12 year anniversary, delightful with steak, I’m sure would last 12 more years. — 4 years ago

Rick Riddle

9.4

They didn’t rest on their laurels after the Judgement of Paris! Chateau Montelena’s Calistoga Zinfandel is overloaded with notes of Red Cherries with an aged bourbon finish. Light bodied, garnet red with minimal tannins, excellent alone or with a bit of truffle salted mozzarella. — 7 years ago

with Meagan

Joe Kaiser

9.2

Starting line up this evening. Just beginning to decant. All 2002's Araujo Eisele Vineyard, Bryant Family Vineyard, Chateau Montelena Cab, Diamond Creek, Grace Family Vineyard, Ramey Jericho Canyon & Rubicon Estate & maybe a surprise — 8 years ago

with bill

Young Choi

9.1

wow what a big zin! even at 13 years! lovely notes of berries and strong pepperiness. would love to try this again in 5 years! — 9 years ago

Andrew Cullimore

8.9

Flight 1 , wine 1 . Quite dense and intense sweet fruit on the nose . Touches of spice , currants , plum and liquorice . This is a little advanced and probably could just be this bottle . Currant and plum notes on the palate , good roundness and rounded sweet tannin . Balanced acidity . This is perhaps not the most representative bottle , but has to be Napa. Actually oxidised quite quickly in the glass, but was enjoyable whilst it lasted . Sure there are better bottles out there . Had this as the Inglenook . — 8 months ago

Andrew Cullimore

9.0

Flight 4 , wine 2. This was quite a difficult wine to read at first , again quite closed , mineral and tobacco edged . Dark fruits. On the palate rounder than expected , good richness and balance , dark cherry , blackberry fruit . Good rounded tannin and ok length . Quite obviously Bordeaux in the context of this tasting , though I had this as the Lynch Bages 1982 when it was actually the Brane Cantenac 1986 …..I give up ! 90

This was an interesting , though challenging tasting , all served blind in flights of 2 wines , 3 flights of 1 Napa and 1 Bordeaux and 1 of 2 Bordeaux; served in a random sequence . The fact that at least a couple of wines were not pristine didn’t help , though if you will taste 8 , 40 year old wines that is probably par for the course . I found it relatively easy to spot whether what was in the glass was Napa or Bordeaux but didn’t actually get a single wine completely correct ! Probably overall the winner of the tasting was Napa (won the 3 rounds 2-1) as they had more suave polished , rounded personalities. Many put the wines the wrong way round , imagining that Napa was Bordeaux etc. The 1982s in general showed poorly too much funk and brett on the Lynch and Talbot but the Duhart showed surprisingly well . The 86s both showed pretty well and equalled the Dominus (even though I didn’t think we had a pristine bottle) . The Montelena was enjoyable , though was the first to oxidise whilst the Inglenook was the biggest positive surprise , still drinking surprisingly well at 47 . — 8 months ago

Shay A

9.4

One of the better older Bordeaux I’ve had in quite some time. Absolutely at peak with so many layers. It outshined an ‘03 Grand Puy Lacoste (which showed thin), ‘03 Montelena (sadly corked), and an ‘03 BV Georges de LaTour (rich/sweet).

Absolutely on fire from pop, this 20yr old left bank Bordeaux showed none of the overripe/too hot characteristics of the vintage. Deep purple/black in the glass with no bricking. Full-bodied. Mocha, truffle, roasted blackberries and raspberries, graphite on the nose. Ripe (but not overly so) dark berries, plum, cassis with vanilla pipe tobacco and even some iron. Still a good bit of tannin on the finish. This shows as a “modern” style due to the warmth, but balanced. Wish I had more. Pop the corks and enjoy! — 3 years ago

Mike Saviage

9.4

Still dark and opaque. Rich fruit nose. Notes of black cherry, mocha, mahogany and a hint of espresso. Rich and silky in the mouth. Long finish. A nice contrast to the Montelena Cab. My last bottle unfortunately. — 5 years ago

Laura Purdy

9.2

Needed a good hour plus decant. Big oaky flavor with a bit of vanilla on the finish.

Happy NYE! — 8 years ago

James Webb

9.0

Dark fruit. Sour cherry. Brackish water. Forest floor. Maduro wrapper. Blistered shishito. Palette of dark and sour cherry. Strong acid that guides you to the heavy tannic structure that awaits. Fruit is still holding on to provide some balance. But slightly off kilter (past prime?) to be considered a truly great Montelena. — 8 years ago

Jyoti Kataria

9.9

It was perfect as an after dinner drink. Paired it with Flan. The 1994 vintage blew us away. — 9 years ago

Andrew Cullimore

9.0

Flight 2 , wine 1 . Quite deep garnet , less terracotta rim . This had a whiff of oxidation about it at first which seemed to somewhat dissipate with time . Some dark spiced fruits , liquorice and menthol hints , cedar and sous bois . On the palate good ripeness and spiced dark cherry hints . Good acidity and rounded tannin . Nice length also , offering some spiced black fruits and menthol hints . Don’t think this is a pristine bottle but was enjoyable none the less , I was unsure at first if this was Napa , but coming back to it … and reading my notes , it became quite obvious . However I had this down as the Ch Montelena , not the Dominus — 8 months ago

Scott@Mister A’s-San Diego

9.4

1994 vintage. Nice fill with a slightly shrunken and fully saturated cork. Durand helped plenty in the opening assist. Not decanted and tasted after 1.25 hours open. Hadn’t tasted since the early 2000’s. Definitely dropped all the baby fat. Toffee, coffee and chocolate covered cherries in the nose. Light medium body (thought it would be a touch bigger). Still plenty of focus but slightly less grip than desired. Can it match biggie shizz like Montelena, Dunn, Diamond Creek, BV GDL Reserve, Mondavi Reserve, Araujo, Peter Michael Les Pavots, Mayacamas, etc? No. Is it really really nice? Absolutely. Can hold another 5-6 years at this juncture before boarding the downhill bell curve train. 11.8.24. — a year ago

Scott@Mister A’s-San Diego

9.4

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. — a year ago

Mark Flesher

9.1

You really can't give this one a very true rating right now. This bottle still has a lot of red fruited baby fat. After about 3 hours of air, it started to settle into more of a black cherry with hints of blackberry kind of a wine. But it definitely was not like that sooner. It is amazing how 15 years seems to be the dividing line and the characteristics change so much. It took a little coaxing. This one has a fair amount of herb influence. Also has some menthol or eucalyptus. Not sure that was there when I tried one of these even earlier. Overall, I make no apologies for opening this one now. It is still a very good wine. But when you know how these drink at 15 to 20 years, you know that it will continue to develop and change so much. Still a lot of stiff oak astringency at the moment. — 5 years ago

Sage Shimoda

9.3

Grgich Hills Estate Cabernet Sauvignon 2010

Mike Grgich, one of the founders of Grgich Hills, was the one who put California chardonnays on the world wine map winning the Paris Wine Tasting of 1976 with his 1973 Chateau Montelena Chardonnay. Probably more well-known for its chardonnay, Grgich Hills also makes great age-worthy cabs. This 2010 cab is fully integrated. Beautiful. Rich, dark berry fruits with cedar, mocha, leather notes.

ガーギッチと言えば、カリフォルニアワインの名声を世界に知らしめる契機となった1976年のパリ・テイスティングで白ワインのトップとなった1973 Chateau Montelena Chardonnayをつくったことで知られるマイク・ガーギッチが設立したワイナリー。白ワインの印象が強いですが、熟成に値する素晴らしい赤もつくっている。2010年のカベルネは、凝縮したリッチなダークベリー系のフルーツにシダー、モカ、レザーなどが見事に調和した素晴らしいワインでした。

#wine #redwine #grgichhills #grgichhillsestate #napavalley #2010 #cabernet #californiawine #california #agingpotential #ワイン #カリフォルニアワイン #赤ワイン #カベルネソービニヨン #ガーギッチヒルズ #ナパバレー #ナパ — 7 years ago

B

10

Magnum 1997 Harlan CS. Dinner at Fstead. Drank after the '91 Chateau Montelena out of magnum. — 9 years ago