Chateau
Montelena
Calistoga
Napa Valley
Chateau
Montelena dates back to 1882 when San Francisco entrepeneur Alfred
Tubbs bought
254 acres of land at the narrow northern end of the Napa Valley at the
base of
Mount Saint Helena, which in a contracted form, gives its name to the
chateau. By 1896,
Chateau Montelena was
the seventh largest in the Napa Valley.
After an interruption due to prohibition, the Tubbs family
continued to
farm the vines, make some wines and sell grapes to other producers. The winery was sold in
1958 to Yort and
Jeanie Frank who were responsible for much of the landscaping of the
Chateau’s
grounds. Winemaking
restarted in earnest
under Jim Barrett in 1972 with the replanting of much of the vineyards. From the start, quality
was paramount, and
one mark of this was that the new vines were planted on the St George
rootstock, which is lower yielding than other rootstocks commonly
planted at
the time. As well
as the lower yields,
the use of the St George rootstock had the felicitous benefit that the
vines
survived the phylloxera outbreak that afflicted Napa in the 1980s and
1990s,
meaning that Chateau Montelena has some of the oldest Cabernet vines in
the
Napa Valley.
The
vineyards of the Montelena Estate lie immediately to the north west of
the
winery and chateau and are planted mainly with cabernet sauvignon, some
zinfandel and then smaller amounts of cabernet franc and merlot on
largely
alluvial soils, though smaller amounts are planted on volcanic soils,
while a
small plot immediately next to the winery has richer sedimentary soils. The different soil types
combine with a
varied terrain, from the steep hillsides (primarily the volcanic soils)
to the
flat valley bottom, and a climate heavily influenced by Mount St
Helena, as
cold air descends from the mountain at night to cool the vineyard: the
diurnal
temperature swing is commonly between 95°F during the day and
45°F at night. These
vineyards are the source for the
Montelena Estate Cabernet Sauvignon and the Montelena Estate Zinfandel. In addition, Montelena
produces a riesling,
sourced from vineyards in the Potter Valley in Mendocino County, a Napa
Valley
chardonnay from vineyards in the Oak Knoll District of south-central
Napa
Valley and a Napa Valley cabernet sauvignon from vineyards in and
around
Calistoga.
Chateau
Montelena uses sustainable farming practices in the vineyards, for
example by
growing cover crops and releasing ladybirds into the vineyard. The vineyards are dry
farmed and a
combination of the rocky soils, the rootstocks and crop thinning keeps
yields
low. Grapes are
normally harvested by
hand at night and then quickly transferred to the winery where they are
crushed, de-stemmed and pressed before slow fermentation in temperature
controlled stainless steel. After
fermentation, the wines are transferred to a mix of old and new French
oak
barriques.
2005
Riesling, Potter Valley, Mendocino,
Chateau Montelena Winery
This has a big, very minerally, very Alsatian riesling nose and makes a
very
nice welcoming aperitif. 88/100
2001
Chardonnay, Napa Valley,
Chateau Montelena Winery, served en
magnum
2001 proved a meagre harvest, with only two-thirds of the normal crop. The grapes were harvested
at night, which
keeps the juice temperature 10-15 degrees lower than if they were
picked during
the day. Over 70%
of the crop was
whole-cluster pressed. The
resulting
wine was aged in oak for 6-8 months.
This has a very fragrant eau de vie de poire nose. Full and very dry on
the
palate, feeling just a touch oxidised.
It’s also slightly warm on the palate and has a
big, spicy, woody
finish. 85/100
A second magnum showed was much fresher on the nose with lots of
attractive
peach and pear fruit. The
palate was
very similar, but without the hint of oxidation.
87/100
2003
Zinfandel, The Montelena
Estate, Napa Valley, Chateau Montelena Winery
2003 looked like it was going to be a good year, but a heat wave in
September
caused problems for the Zinfandel, as apparently its large berry size,
thin
skin and relatively high water content make it prone to shrivelling: as
a
result the grapes had to be harvested quickly before they turned to
raisins. The grapes
were harvested, as usual, at night
to try to avoid very high sugars and the alcohol levels that would
result from
that.
It has a very black cherry nose with some plums and cigar box notes. Very precise on the
attack, it has a clean
elegance, but with some significant spiciness building on the finish. Very Good+.
87/100
2003 Cabernet
Sauvignon, The
Montelena Estate, Napa Valley, Chateau Montelena Winery
This is a blend of 98% cabernet sauvignon and 2% cabernet franc and was
aged
for 22 months in French oak, one quarter of which were new barrels.
There’s minty black fruit on the nose.
Very generous on the palate, yet it also has a lovely
elegance. Very open
and attractive, but lacking a great
deal of depth. This
is perhaps for the
shorter term, maybe within five years.
Very Good Indeed. 91/100
2000 Cabernet
Sauvignon, The
Montelena Estate, Napa Valley, Chateau Montelena Winery, 13.9%
A precise nose with minty black fruit and a marked soft elegance with a
lift of
fragrant violets. The
palate is precise
and focussed with very good balance: it has a good solid structure, but
all is
nicely balanced. Lovely
elegance. Very Good
Indeed. 92/100
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Last updated: 8 January 2008