TN: 2001 Chateau Montelena Cabernet Sauvignon Estate

WINE TALK
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2001 Chateau Montelena Cabernet Sauvignon Estate (1/30/2010)
The glory that is Montelena Estate Cab! From a cracked half bottle, run through a paper coffee filter (for glass). Clearly needs 10-20 years to really show. Right now the nose is full of appealing black fruits, subtle spices, and dark cocoa powder. In the mouth, the wine is lush. Still has some baby fat, but the tannic structure begins to show over time (2 hours in the decanter). The finish is long. Shows itself better with a sirloin steak. To me, still the archetypical Napa Cabernet. 95-97 points. (95 pts.)

Posted from CellarTracker

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Thanks for the note Ken, it’s been years since I had one. Glad to see it’s TCA free.

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Thanks Ken, I have several of these. You give me hope!

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Dude, it would have been so much better with a pepperoni pizza. [stirthepothal.gif]

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Just ask PMC…

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Ditto.

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It can’t be 95 Ken, W.S’s Laube said it was tainted and sucked. He gave it a 69. You mean another fucking crtitic was wrong??? [stirthepothal.gif] [soap.gif] hitsfan blahblah

Sincerely yours;
A disinterested rat tired of all the friggin Pied Pipers.

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Serge, I will say with some pride that when someone first posted on the Squires board several years ago that “James Laube gave the 2001 Montelena Estate Cab a 69”, my response was “James Laube should give himself a 69!”

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thanks for the update ken. i had this on release and loved it. glad to hear it is still doing well. wish I had bought some though

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Thanks for the update. It sounds like two years has done this wine some good. I have yet to open one of mine, but 2012 may be the year.

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Mike, I’ve had this controversial vintage at least twice and have had no issues with what I drank. For my buck, Montelena Estate and Ridge Monte Bello are two of the most consistent performing CA cabs at still reasonable prices (especially on futures… and even in the after market with some age). So… I’m sure your bottles will be fine.

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Actually, in Parker’s recent 2001 retrospective tasting the Montelena score dropped to 91+. His “prose” gives absolutely no reason for the reevaluation although he still gives the wine a good write up though he has certainly shortened the drinking window. My 2001 is sleeping and I won’t be opening a bottle anytime soon.

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Was this the vintage Laube said he tried Multiple bottles to see what was wrong with his first few and it ended up being a severe TCA issue?

I’m getting old so the memory is slipping.

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Thanks for the note, and yes my recollection is that Laube panned it claiming that multiple bottles were TCA-tainted. Reminds me that I have a bottle of this in the tasting queue; might have to move it up in the line to take another data point.

Bruce