Decanted out of bottle due to broken cork, put through ‘strainer’, then directly back into bottle.
Unbelievably gorgeous nose of sweet tobacco, cedar, cigar box, and spice. Quite alive for a nearly 20 year old wine, with plenty of tannin and acid making me believe this wine can still go at least another 10 years. No degradation in the wine, even when sitting in the same glass over a 4 hour dinner. Paired wonderfully with duck breast. Would have loved to revisit the wine on day 2, but this puppy was opened and shared with a group celebrating the recent nuptials of Matt Mauldin, a frequent poster on this bard, and his lovely bride Melissa.
I loved this wine the one time I had it, ~2 years ago. The bottle I had didn’t have a decade left in it, but other reports are in line with yours. So many good wines made by Montelena in the '90s. I wish the newer vintages showed the same.
Also had the 1994 about 2 years ago from two different bottles and one was brought by a person with a fantastic temperature controlled cellar while the other was brought from a person with a passive one. They were both great, but the one from the temp controlled cellar his wine was fresh, lively, and had years of life ahead of it. Pretty much spot on to your tasting note. Made a believer out of me that temp controlled cellars are the way to go.
A great wine, for sure. I had it last year and it was vibrant and young and not near finished. I also had the 1995 a few weeks ago and it was beautiful, at its peak IMO.