Vintus

Estate Cabernet Sauvignon, Napa Valley

The Montelena Estate Cabernet Sauvignon is grown in one of the world’s most remarkable winegrowing properties. The site’s diversity of soils and slopes translates directly into the layers of complex flavors in this flagship wine.

The Estate vineyard is comprised of varied terrain, from flat to steep hillsides. The vineyard gently slopes downward towards its base, where a small patch of sedimentary soil was deposited by the settling of an ancient ocean or lake. Extending out from the Napa River is the alluvial soil, the most prevalent type on the property. In the back and outside areas of the vineyard are volcanic soils, formed by ancient lava flows caused by tectonic uplifting.

This diversified soil profile results in aromatic, rich and full-bodied Cabernet Sauvignon, characterized by the unique earthy-berry flavor that is the Montelena Estate.

• 2009 Vintage

   The 2009 Estate Cabernet is made up of 98% Cabernet Sauvignon and 2% Cabernet Franc. The wine was aged in 100% French oak (34% new barrels) for 22 months.

   

  Starting out with fairly typical spring weather, the growing season in 2009 was defined by the cool summer, with no major heat waves all season. Any warmer weather was immediately followed by a long cool period. The effect of all of this was slow and steady ripening with long hang time and a later than average start to the harvest. The heat did eventually show up in September, just in time to kick that final ripening stage into gear.

  • "Montelena's 2009 Cabernet Sauvignon Estate wraps around the palate with serious depth. Even with all of its intensity, the 2009 has a silkiness that makes it incredibly delicious at this early stage. Red berries, flowers, tobacco and sweet herbs all flesh out on the generous, radiant finish. While many 2009s are a bit tight today, Montelena's 2009 Estate is showing very nicely, although it is keeping some cards close to the vest. I imagine the 2009 will start to enter its prime drinking window around age 8-10 and drink well for at least another decade beyond that. Anticipated maturity: 2017-2029."  93+ Points Wine Advocate

  • "Good red-ruby. Highly perfumed aromas of black cherry and menthol lifted by rose and spice oils. Suave, pure and vibrant, with red berry and spice flavors lifted by a pungent minty quality. Nothing black fruit about this vintage. Finishes with fine-grained, rather silky tannins and terrific energy. Less forbidding at this young stage than many recent vintages of this wine, and in a distinctly food-friendly style. This wine benefited dramatically from its final months in barrel."  93 Points International Wine Cellar

• 2008 Vintage

   

  Some years Mother Nature throws you a curveball, but with years of practice and experience you can see that pitch coming and still connect for a home run.  A cold and frosty spring reduced the size of the crop, and then strong winds at bloom again reduced the crop.  The heat of the growing season was normal, but then more heat showed up at harvest.  Despite (and beacuse of) these varying conditions, 2008 produced an incredible, concentrated and exceptional Estate Cabernet.  

   

  Dense, rich ruby in color, it shows complex aromas of dark cherry, dried fruits, earth, cedar, and vanilla cream along with hints of licorice and leather.  The palate opens with big, chewy tannin and builds even bigger into a mid-palate loaded with ripe red fruits and dried black fruits. There is a good, strong acid backbone completing the balance and structure.  Still young and powerful, this wine will open beautifully with time in bottle or glass.

   

  Harvest Dates:    September 7 to October 13

  Alcohol:            13.9%

  Blend:                 98% Cabernet Sauvignon, 2% Cabernet Franc

  Barrel Aging:       22 months, 100% French Oak, 34% New

  Bottling Date:     December 2010

   

  • "The 2008 Cabernet Sauvignon Estate, which is not yet in bottle, may turn out to be nearly as good. It exhibits a full-bodied power as well as lots of black fruit, licorice, damp earth and spice characteristics. Textured and rich with sweeter tannin and more upfront appeal than the 2007, the long, impressive 2008 should age for 20-25 years." 93-95 Points Robert Parker

  • “Good deep ruby. Lovely lift and purity to the aromas of cassis, violet and bitter chocolate. Juicy, vibrant and intense; less dense than the 2007 but more perfumed in the mid-palate. Very fine-grained wine, finishing long and aromatic, with firm tannic bite and a late note of bitter chocolate. "Two thousand eight was an impossible year to make 15% wines with a 4.0 pH in Napa Valley," said Bo Barrett, adding that "it's more fun to be working in the classical world. In 2008, there's less jam to block the terroir and minerality of the vineyard. Due to all the sunlight, we made cabernet jam in 2007, but the vineyard influence shows more clearly in 2008 and 2006." The estate purchased some small tanks for this vintage and thus the team was able to pick with more precision. Barrett also told me he backed off on the pumpovers, relying more on delestage (rack-and-return) for cap management.” 91-94 International Wine Cellar

  • "Old-school, but well-done, this is tight and firm, showing a dense, balanced mix of dried currant, mineral, cedar, cigar box and tobacco flavors. Ends with good depth, range of flavor and tannins. Best from 2013 through 2023."  92 Points Wine Spectator

• 2007 Vintage

  The 2007 vintage saw a fine, temperate growing season with earlier than average bud-break that translated into an earlier than average harvest. The growing conditions throughout the summer were near ideal - mostly moderate days and cool nights with the occasional hot day, but no prolonged heat. The cool nights kept the pH low, and just before we began harvest, a stretch of hot weather brought the flavors, sugars, and pH into the optimal range. Once again, Mother Nature came through for us.

   

  Fruit quality was excellent and harvest was near-average in volume with no big surprises. We had good timing throughout with a nice, steady pace – press two, fill two. In any kind of farming, normal is good - normal is what you want. Here at Chateau Montelena, normal is excellent, so I’m happy to report that 2007 was a very normal year.

   

  The rich, dense color of deep-purple garnet hints at the big extraction in this wine. It is complex and inviting on the nose, with richly layered aromas of black cherry and black currant, anise, pie spice, caramel, cocoa, and a slight hint of leather and earth. A full, soft entry loaded with bright ripe red fruit opens the palate. With very nice weight and balance throughout, there is a good, crisp acidity and the abundance of Montelena’s hallmark silky tannins give a round slightly chewy mouthfeel. Layers of fruit and barrel spice persist throughout the long, intense finish.

   

  Harvest Dates Sept. 3 to Oct. 5 

  Barrel Aging 21 months, 100% French 

  Bottling Date August 2009

  Release Date Spring 2011

  • "A great wine in the making, the 2007 Cabernet Sauvignon Estate (just under 10,000 cases produced) possesses a fragrant bouquet of sweet black currants, crushed rocks, earth and background oak. Full-bodied and dense, with Montelena’s typical power, tannin and reserved nature, this is a big, rich, formidably endowed red that requires 4-5 years of cellaring. That in itself is atypical of this exuberant, flamboyant vintage. Given this cuvee’s past history, this 2007 should age for 30+ years." 94+ Points Wine Advocate

  • “Saturated, deep ruby-red. Deep aromas of blackberry, blueberry, violet and minerals; reminded me of a Pauillac. Silky on entry, then dense and sweet in the middle, conveying an impression of power. There's a youthfully medicinal quality to the dark berry and licorice flavors but unusual early sweetness and pliancy to this normally long-aging wine. Finishes with very suave tannins and impressive persistence.” 93(+?) Points International Wine Cellar

• 2006 Vintage

  Duality in nature is everywhere – night and day, birth and death, you get the picture – but it isn’t very often that you get two distinctive phenomenons at the same time.   That duality is the most prominent feature of the 2006 harvest where we saw both warm vintage and cool vintage characteristics in the same year, and nowhere was that more pronounced than here on the Montelena Estate.  
  
  The 2006 growing season was mild, with good spring rains, and then from veraison through the first half of harvest the Estate saw a lot of heat and drying winds.   In mid-September a cold snap hit, and the back half of the harvest that followed was significantly cooler. In the end, the fantastic characteristic we have from 2006 is that we got the best of both worlds – power, intensity, and ripe jammy flavors from the first half, balance, elegance, and more subtle notes from the cooler second half. All of this resulted in a wine that has the complexity and structure to last for decades to come, all while having broad appeal upon release.
  
  The 2006 Estate Cabernet Sauvignon has an enticing deep garnet-red color in the glass. On the nose there are complex notes of blackberry tart, clove, cinnamon, and cocoa, along with dried black currants.  The mouth has a soft supple entry, youthful crisp acidity, juicy plum and rich bright red fruit notes, all complemented by loads of fine grain tannin and an under-layer of dried black currant.    
  
  Harvest Dates            Sept. 28 to Oct. 26    
  Sugar at Harvest        25.2° brix
  Blend                          98% Cabernet Sauvignon, 2% Cabernet Franc
  Barrel Aging                22 months, 100% French
  Bottling Date               August 2008
  Release Date              Spring 2010

  • "Revealing sweeter tannin and a softer, riper, fuller-bodied style, the 2006 Chateau Montelena Cabernet Sauvignon Estate is a beautiful, classic wine with loads of berry fruit, an earthy character, and a spicy, pure, rich finish. The silkiness of the tannins suggests this 2006 will be drinkable in several years. It is another candidate for nearly two decades of aging." 92 Points Wine Advocate

  • "Bright ruby-red. Blackberry, cassis and boysenberry aromas complemented by licorice, violet, menthol and bitter chocolate. Juicy, intensely flavored and quite fresh but a bit youthfully disjointed, with a firm tannin/acid spine supporting the crushed dark berry and menthol flavors. The wine's substantial tannins will need time to knit, but this wine retains good aromatic freshness." 92 Points International Wine Cellar

• 2005 Vintage

  The 2005 growing season can be generalized as long, slow, and mild, but all the fun came in the month-to-month variations. The vines saw very early bud break at the Estate, followed by limited growth due to cool temperatures and an exceptionally wet spring – especially the month of May. Even June was mild, with some rain. July finally brought much needed steady warmth, but no major heat spikes, providing a constant environment for great vine growth and berry development. Warm weather continued into early August, but then it cooled off through most of September, great for fruit ripening. Yet another heat wave arrived toward the end of September, just in time to push the Cabernet to full maturity. In sum, the weather could not have worked out better if it had been custom ordered.

  • “Good deep ruby-red. Complex aromas of currant, licorice, graphite, bitter chocolate, smoked meat, tobacco and brown spices. Began juicy, penetrating and quite youthfully unevolved, but aeration brought a suppler, rounder texture and more generosity to this impressively structured wine. Complicating notes of bitter cherry, menthol and minerals. This will require a good eight to ten years of aging but the substantial tannins are sweet and lush. Very long, pure and powerful on the finish.” 93+ Points International Wine Cellar

• 2004 Vintage

  The 2004 Estate Cabernet Sauvignon earthy-berry aroma is very concentrated, showing lovely, classic Cabernet, warm earth and sun baked cassis with licorice and spice. On the palate there is integration of strong, deep, concentrated fruit in a perfect balance. Super fine tannin grips the palate, with ripe, round flavors that dance right on the seam between classic Bordeaux and California styles.
  
  Harvest Dates:       September 4 to September 27
  Bottling Date:         December 2006
  Release Date:        March 2008
  Cases Produced:    8,200
  Barrels:                  30% new French
  Time in Oak:           23 months
  Sugar at Harvest:  26.0° brix
  Alcohol:                  14.1%

  • "The 2004 Cabernet Sauvignon Estate is 100% Cabernet Sauvignon, all from their old vineyards in Calistoga. This is a dense, ruby/purple-tinged wine with full body, and despite the softness of the general vintage, Montelena has plenty of structure. Like nearly every vintage of their top Cabernet Sauvignon, it will last for 25 or more years. The wine has sweet tannin in a broad, flavorful, concentrated style with plenty of black currant, licorice, and spice. The wine is beautifully textured, slightly more forward than most Montelena Cabernets tend to be. It is another beauty from probably the most consistent winery for Cabernet Sauvignon over the last three decades." 94+ Points Wine Advocate