Vintus

Chateau Montelena has just launched a new online virtual tour of the winery on its Web-site.  The virtual tour allows visitors to wander through the long hallway that connects the tasting room to the estate room,  stroll through the crooked walkways over the placid waters of Jade Lake, and so much more.  A 1-minute video will greet you and the “Help” tab will allow you to find out how to navigate through the many things there are to explore.  To find the tour look for the “Kicker” at the bottom of their homepage by clicking the image below.

Chateau Montelena just released the 2010 Napa Valley Chardonnay. Check out these two Montelena videos with Bo Barrett discussing the 2010 harvest for the winery!

A great little video of Bo  Barrett discussing Chateau Montelena and reaching new drinkers who may never have heard of the Paris Tasting.

Bo and Heidi Barrett are interviewed at Spec’s in Texas, and spend some time talking about the 2008 vintage for Cabernet in Napa.  Nicely done!

You may have seen in the news the last few days there’s a movie coming out called, “Somm”, following a group of sommeliers as they go for their MS.  From what we understand, Bo Barrett ends up playing a pretty big part in talking about Somms from the winemaker’s perspective.   You can see the trailer below, including a little Bo cameo.

Napa Valley Vintners has posted an engaging series of videos featuring interviews with some of Napa’s most esteemed winemakers. The videos reveal how they each got their start in the wine business. See the first of four videos below:

Check out this video of Bo Barrett, Master Winemaker at Chateau Montelena, discussing the 2010 vintage. As has been widely reported, 2010 was a freakish year of abnormally cold weather, but, with proper management of the vines and a nice warm spell at the end, the grapes had long hang times to mature and develop slowly while maintaining moderate potential alcohol. This is right in line with the Montelena style of classic, restrained Cabernets that offer finesse and purity, and, in short, 2010 may turn out some of the finest wines of the decade.

The Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association (AOPA) has a great video of Bo Barrett, Master Winemaker at Chateau Montelena and a licensed pilot since 1974. With the estate located in Calistoga at the northern tip of Napa Valley, it takes a while to get to any commercial airport. The solution? Bo just flies himself!

We’ve just started shipping the Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon 2007 from Chateau Montelena, and are very excited to offer our first taste of what is already one of the most heralded vintages for Napa Cabernet in the last 50 years.  Check out winemaker Cameron Parry giving a little insight into the vintage and the wine:

Our friends in Calistoga have a beautiful new website up at Montelena.com, with gorgeous graphics and photos, an excellent history of the estate, and some cool  interactive videos (and a behind-the-scenes look at them here). This is one of the best, most detailed winery websites we’ve seen, a great introduction to a legendary estate. Check out one of the site’s many videos, this one on the 1976 Judgement of Paris, below.