The Montelena Estate Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon

Dark tawny color. Mostly opaque. Notes of black cherries, evergreen trees, oak barrel and some spice. Good fruit and structure in the mouth. An herbal thing exists. An OK wine. No need to wait longer for it.

Cal cab tasting. Deep dark purple with some bricking in the rims. Notes of dark red fruit, currant, cocoa and mocha, some roses. Thin in the mouth, even with decanter time. Great nose but the structure and mouthfeel is a bit lacking.

Few wines are as near and dear to my heart as Montelena estate. My birthday eve dinner with my daughters and we had my daughter Bailey’s birth year to celebrate. Delicious mature cab, saddle leather, cherry tobacco and stewed plum.

This has just entered prime. Oak is integrated, tannins have softened, fruit is still fresh. The harmony you want from napa, this will hold for quite some time.

Cork needed a Durand rescue (what a must-have accessory!) but this was otherwise excellent. A nifty burnt cocoa element led it all but this is otherwise fully sorted black fruit and fine, long tannins. Lush. Rare for a Monte Estate, I sensed this was on the downslope.

6-liter

Aged beautifully. Still really drinkable. Great way to celebrate Christmas dinner.

Boy did this steal the show. Dense and black. Oy the nose. Heady.

Never disappoints. Medium body, dark fruit. Balanced.

Hard to follow the '53 Lafite but this is doing wonderfully. Blackberry and white pepper on the nose. Red fruit, leather and roasted mushroom.