Vintus

On November 21, 2011, Wine Peeps posted a blog on Chateau Montelena’s historic performance at the 1976 Judgement of Paris and the winery’s growth since then.  Wine Peeps also comments on Chateau Montelena’s 2008 Cabernet Sauvignon and the “excellent and indicative” quality of wines they continue to produce.  Take a look at the blog below:

“Chateau Montelena Winery, located in the Calistoga District in California’s Napa Valley, propelled onto the world stage during the famous 1976 Judgment of Paris. At the competition in Paris, four white Burgundies were tasted against six California Chardonnays. The French judges awarded the top honor to Chateau Montelena’s 1973 Chardonnay. It was a remarkable triumph and showed the world that California wines had come of age. The story of the competition was depicted in the 2008 film Bottle Shock, some of which was filmed at Chateau Montelena.

Founded in 1882 by Alfred Tubbs, Chateau Montelena was non-operational from the early 1900’s until 1972 when Jim Barrett purchased it. Barrett restored most of the original vineyards and completely refurbished the winery. At the time of the purchase, Jim’s son, Bo, had just graduated from high school. He has been involved ever since and was named winemaker in 1982. Today, his official title is Master Winemaker. Cameron Parry joined the winemaking team at Chateau Montelena in 2004 and was named winemaker in 2008. Cam now manages all of the winemaking operations under Bo’s direction. Chateau Montelena produces 35,000 cases annually.

Recently, we had the opportunity to taste the current release of their 2008 Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon in a blind samples tasting. It is excellent and indicative of the quality wines that Chateau Montelena continues to produce.

2008 Chateau Montelena Cabernet Sauvignon (Napa Valley, California): 86% Cabernet Sauvignon, 12% Merlot, and 2% Cabernet Franc. Deep red in color. Nice nose with blackcurrant and oak aromas. Blackcurrant, black cherry, oak, and leather come through on the palate. Full-bodied with lively acidity and medium to high, chewy tannins. Well-balanced with a long finish.
Quality: 4 stars (out of 5)
QPR: 5 bangs for your buck (out of 5)”

Chateau Montelena finished their harvest yesterday.  There will be some sensational wines to look forward to from their 2011 vintage.

Voyage of Endurance: The 2011 Vintage of Chateau Montelena Winery

Some vintages are a walk in the nice little Napa Valley Park.  But vintage 2011, was more like Shackleton’s Voyage of Endurance to Antarctica! Long & grueling and a risky harvest where fortune favors the bold.  Our collective experience gave us never ending hope and conviction enough to “gut it out” through the rough patches and as we write this commentary on a warm windy November 1, the voyage of Vintage 2011 comes to a very successful ending at CM.  We got through it but not without considerable risk assessment and knowledgeable response, trust in the vineyards we know so well, but also a healthy amount of astonishing luck in the late season’s wonderful weather.  It was a challenging growing season – with a late start, a consistently cool summer, and surprising rains.  As we wrap it up with our last two vineyards being harvested in continuing Indian summer dry warm weather we can now report 2011’s outcome for Chateau Montelena was quite good.

Despite the highly publicized, uncommon weather conditions besetting Napa Valley, our grape quality was high. We attribute our success to the truly exceptional nature of our vineyards (site), along with the experience of our winegrowers and winemaking team (management). More than a little courage in farming was essential to a very successful outcome. In particular, the Cabernet family of grapes does require quite a bit of heat to get fully ripe and make the wines for which Napa Valley is famous. After a consistently cool summer season, significant mid-October rain pushed the vintage even later.  But growers who waited and really “gutted it out” were rewarded with weeks of fantastic weather, a prolonged Indian summer that provided needed ripening time.  We waited.

All of the “money” blocks of our Estate Cabernet (those blocks that always make the blend) came in with near perfect phenolic maturity – lots of time on the vine will do that – and great flavors.  The tannin profile of these lots is classic Montelena: big and velvety.   Yields were down this season, but not the quality.  The 2011 Estate Cabernet will be a standout.  At this early point we expect our Napa Valley Cabernet to show classical styling, lots of depth and subtlety of flavor, and great longevity.  Grower of the year award goes to Buddy Barberis, whose diligent efforts paid off with a good full crop of ripe, balanced, and tasty Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon.   In fact all of our growers for the Napa Cabernet made a yeoman’s effort this season, delivering fruit of the highest caliber.

Our patience was also rewarded with a Chardonnay that exudes precision and balance.  The mild, steady warmth of the summer months lacked any significant temperature spikes, which yielded uniformly ripe fruit and fantastic flavor development.  Expect to find zesty green apple and concentrated melon notes, with the refreshing acidity that remains a hallmark of our wines.  We have found in our long experience with Chardonnay that these cooler vintages make wonderful classic wines, and we rate 2011 as unequivocally successful.

This year’s Estate Zinfandel and Primitivo lots are some of the finest we’ve tasted in the last 8 vintages.  Every tank has been a delight, showing excellent color, great tannin structure, and wonderful ripe fruit flavors – this will be one to look for.  The Zinfandel did amazingly well with the October rains, and while the yields were lower (primarily due to very selective harvesting), the quality is excellent.

Potter Valley proved itself once again.  This year’s Riesling came in with great ripeness and a good amount of Botrytis, so we’re expecting lots of yummy apricot and honey flavors in a very classic, cool vintage wine.  Look for a lot of richness in the bottle upon release, and the quintessential Riesling petrol after a few years of cellaring.

Bo Barrett, Master Winemaker

Big news in Calistoga, the Chateau Montelena cellars have finally completed an extensive renovation that was three years in the planning and about seven months in actual construction.  You can see winemaker Cameron Parry’s description of the process here , and there’s a cool panoramic tool of the cellar that can be found both in Cam’s notes and here.

Below is a group of photos showing a few of the stages of construction and, eventually, the finished product.  The goal, as always, to always keep improving and making better and better wines.

On October 12, 2011 the historic Napa Valley winery, Chateau Montelena, and the world famous hotel, The Westin St. Francis San Francisco, announced the opening of the winery’s first owned-and-operated Tasting Room on Union Square.  A tasting specialist from Chateau Montelena will be on-site to offer expertise and provide guests and the general public with the chance to taste and purchase the extensive selection of wines from the winery.  The goal is to bring a taste of Napa Valley to San Francisco.  Not only will both properties be able to bring a unique and one of a kind experience to its visitors, but they will combine the hotel’s luxury accommodations and exceptional service with the winery’s dedication to its award winning hospitality. Enjoy this excerpt:

“We are thrilled to be opening the first Tasting Room at the famous Westin St. Francis in San Francisco this month,” said Jim Barrett, owner and vintner at Chateau Montelena Winery. “It’s an opportunity for us to bring wine country to guests of the hotel and visitors of San Francisco that might not have the opportunity to visit Napa Valley during their stay. The Tasting Room in San Francisco will be an extension of the Tasting Room in Calistoga, offering the same experience and quality people have come to expect. We’ve always prided ourselves on providing the best experience Napa Valley has to offer when you visit Chateau Montelena. The Westin St. Francis serves as the perfect setting to extend our reach even further, in an equally historic and stunning location.”

“Chateau Montelena is a natural fit for The Westin St Francis. Both establishments have a long and exciting history, and share a strong commitment to excellence,” says The Westin St. Francis General Manager, Jon Kimball. “We are very pleased to welcome them to our hotel.”

Click here to read the full article.

Just in time for Halloween, an Associated Press story on “Ghost Wineries” – pre-prohibition wineries that were abandoned.  First up, Chateau Montelena, with a funny little story from Bo Barrett and a note about Montelena’s origins as a quality producer.  This piece has been picked up in a huge number of places, appearing in the following publications among others: San Francisco Chronicle, Atlanta Journal Constitution, Seattle Post-Intelligence, Huffingtonpost.com, CNBC, Newsday, Yahoo News, ABC News and CBS News.  You can read the full piece below.

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The Cleveland Plain Dealer just published an article on touring wineries in Napa Valley.  Journalist Donald Rosenberg profiles the most exciting stops on his tour, which include Chateau Montelena. See his comments on the winery below:

“Our tour began in Calistoga, in northern Napa, at Chateau Montelena, which former San Francisco business executive Jim Barrett bought in the early 1970s. The winery is now run by his son, Bo, who was the jovial host for our tasting of reds and whites.

The winery catapulted to international renown in 1976, when its 1973 Chateau Montelena Chardonnay took first place among the white wines in the Judgment of Paris, as the tasting came to be known. At the same tasting, another Napa wine, 1973 Stag’s Leap Wine Cellars Cabernet Sauvignon, was rated first among the reds. The French were shocked.

The story is detailed in “Judgment of Paris,” a book by George M. Taber, the only journalist who attended the tasting, and largely fictionalized in the entertaining 2008 movie “Bottle Shock,” which stars Alan Rickman as Steven Spurrier, the British wine merchant who devised the Paris tasting, and Chris Pine as a young, wild Bo Barrett.
As the real Barrett — still adventurous (he rides a motorcycle around the Montelena property) — sat with us before an array of glasses, he talked about the Bordeaux and white-Burgundy styles the winery has embraced. His father believed in three disciplines — farming, art and science — that remain Montelena mantra to this day.

At its low elevation, Chateau Montelena benefits from the valley’s hot days and cool nights, which are optimum for cabernet sauvignon. Barrett isn’t shy when discussing his wines — or, generously, those of local peers: “Napa cabernet is superior in quality to anywhere.”

To maintain that quality, production will never exceed 50,000 cases per year, as determined by Barrett’s father. Along with cabernet sauvignon, Montelena produces other noteworthy reds and excellent whites, including the acclaimed chardonnay. Of the whites, Barrett said, “It’s something to be enjoyed with your dinner. It should be damn tasty.” Bottles range from $25 to $63 at the winery, with the celebrated Estate Cabernet Sauvignon (priced at $135) the only product Barrett said is geared for the elite customer.”

Read the full article here

We think this piece by Ed McCarthy really captures the heart and spirit of Chateau Montelena.  No need to add anything to what he says, you can just click on the piece to read it.

A nice piece on the Calistoga AVA and its wineries, featuring our own Chateau Montelena.   As the article states, “Montelena’s commitment to making high-quality, age-worthy wine from Calistoga has helped pave the way for dozens of others to put their own imprint on the wine region’s enviable reputation.”  You can read the full article here.

425 Magazine, a Seattle lifestyle publication, just published an article featuring Chateau Montelena Chardonnay as one of five white wines to enjoy this summer:

“Chateau Montelena/Chardonnay/Napa Valley
The winemakers here are always trying new things, like aging some of their wines in steel drums instead of oak barrels to see what happens. Their experimentations have brought forth some amazing wine through the years. Their current straw-colored Chardonnay has a lot happening – it’s spicy, it’s fruity, and it’s even a bit tart. It’s good. Really good. $50, Montelena.com.”

The Star Ledger, a local newspaper in New Jersey, just came out with a piece on Château Montelena’s 2009 Riesling and how its crispness and bright acidity make it a perfect summertime wine. A few quotes from the article:

“Château Montelena’s Napa Valley location is too warm for producing quality riesling grapes, which is why Bo Barrett makes his riesling from certified organic grapes grown by Guinness McFadden in Potter Valley, about 2 1/2 hours north. McFadden’s vineyard is at 1,400 feet in the Mendocino Mountains, giving Château Montelena a perfect match of grape and climate.”

“The 2009 Château Montelena Riesling is wheat-colored with pronounced fruit and honeysuckle aromas. There are rich melon and peach flavors with just the right amount of acidity to keep the palate fresh. The riesling is a perfect wine for summer fare like grilled sea bass with pineapple salsa, curried chicken salad with diced green apples, or grilled pork tenderloin alongside New Jersey corn and yellow and red tomatoes showered with chopped basil and a sprinkle of extra-virgin olive oil and sea salt.”

Click here to read the full article.