Anyone have recent experience with this wine? How is it drinking?
had it in april and last summer. drinking very well
Had it at a big Montelena tasting that Bill Lawrence organized in NYC a couple of years ago. It was the WOTN for many folks, esp. Bordeaux fans. IMO that was because it was the only wine from 1977-2002 that was really ready to drink. Fully mature, but well-stored bottles should be excellent now.
Had almost 2 years ago in September. Not so great the first 35 minutes then once an hour had passed, this woke up and showed beautifully.
If you bottle is anywhere near as good then you are in for a real treat.
There might be notes in eBob for a Boston offline at the time, 9/07 or so. I recall posting mine.
Not to be a stickler but … there are two 1977’s from Montelena. One from Napa Valley and one from Sonoma County. That said, all of the older Monty’s I have tasted have been pretty stellar.
Anybody have any to sell? Seriously…
Please, be a stickler! I love that.
The one I referred to above was the Napa.
I had the napa both times
have preferred the 77 phelps eisele however
One of my favorite wines of all time. If I ever see it for sale I snap it up.
Oh yes, was referring to the Napa (was thinking of opening one for an offline, and decided on something else). Do not run across too many of the Sonoma Montelena Cabernets, but aware they clearly exist . . .
And in the early years there are some North Coast bottlings too. They settled into a rhythm in 1980, but before then the appellations are a little scattershot:
1973: Sonoma County
1974: separate bottlings from Napa Valley AND Sonoma County
1975: North Coast
1976: North Coast
1977: separate bottlings from Napa Valley AND Sonoma County
1978: Inaugural Estate (Napa) AND a Sonoma County bottling
1979: Estate (Napa) AND a Sonoma County bottling (the Montelena site doesn’t mention the latter but WineBid data shows it clearly and some CT users hold both)
1980-1990: Just an Estate bottling.
1991-1999: Both the Estate AND the Calistoga Cuvee
2000 onward: Both the Estate AND a basic Napa Valley bottling (the latter is basically a renamed Calistoga Cuvee)
A bit of a pain to keep track of on CT but one of my pet projects: Add Wine to My Cellar - CellarTracker" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
paid a fortune for the 3 I bought last year. About $170/btl