2008 Chateau Montelena Estate

Just a stunner.

2008 Chateau Montelena Cabernet Sauvignon – The Montelena Estate

Appellation: Napa

Notes:  Stunning.  Still a little young, but wonderful structure, fruit, and creaminess.  Like drinking velvet.  A very nice juxtaposition of California Cab and Bordeaux, it has the American cluster but settles down with a great deal of refinement, much like an AMG can smoke the tires, but still be a wonderful grand touring car. Delicious.

Price: $150 at North Charles Fine Wines and Spirits.

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Two Chardonnays under $30

Through just convenient timing, had two under $30 Chardonnays in the past week.

2010 Peju Provence Estate Bottled Chardonnay

Appellation:  Napa Valley

Tasting Note:  13.8% ABV.  100% Chardonnay.  Very rich color.  Nose is dominated by buttered popcorn, with some tropical fruit.  This has me concerned.  Luckily, the nose belies what is a very nice wine, not overoaked, with bold pear and apple along with the rich mouthfeel.  Not shy.  Finish has a little minerality and acid.  This is generally not my favorite style of wine, but for what it is, it’s pretty darn good, and doesn’t overdo any one aspect.  Nicely balanced.

Rating:  3/5

Price:  $28 from the winery.

2010 Thomas Moray Bourgogne Blanc

Appellation:  Bourgogne (Burgundy)

Tasting Note:  13% ABV.  100% Chardonnay.  Light gold in the glass.  Very tight nose, just a hint of tropical fruit and minerals.  Oh my goodness! crisp.  More of a citrus than tropical flavor, with stone and great acid.  Will be a fantastic food wine, very tasty! I love this style of wine, flavorful and acidic, just perfect to have with just about any fish or chicken dish.

Rating:  5/5

Price:  $26 at Chesapeake Wine

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Tasted: 2003 Conn Creek Anthology

2003 Conn Creek Anthology

Appellation:  Napa Valley

Tasting Notes:  64% Cabernet Sauvignon, 16% Cabernet Franc, 14% Merlot, 4% Malbec, 2% Petit Verdot.  14.3% ABV.  This is one of my favorite categories of wine, the Napa Cabernet Sauvignon blend.  Itend to like the the old world blend of Bordeaux varietals, with the California boldness, and this wine doesn’t disappoint.  Dark violet color.  Nose is pretty jammy fruit, some vanilla, some spice, some dust/funk.  Attack is pretty big fruit, but not the big jam the nose indicated, plum and berries, along with a touch of acid/minerality, and even some vegetal notes.  There’s a smokiness as well.  Not overoaked, tannins are soft, the finish is some dust and more fruit, has that higher end Cali cab taste, without the richness. Medium bodied, but somewhat complex; has that delicious factor you can just drink up. Wonderful, elegant, will be a good ‘with food’ wine.  To fully enjoy, decant. 

Rating:  4/5 (Darn close to a 5, but I don’t do partial point ratings)

Price:  Unknown, this was a gift.  Cellartracker has it in the mid $40’s, it’s $60 at the winery website

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Napa, Part II

My wife and I were in Napa for a few days last week.  Here’s the link to Part I.

On Tuesday, we only visited two wineries, as the whirlwind of the trip to San Francisco, the wedding and associated festivities, and all the wine drinking were wearing us out.

First, we had the best tour of the trip at Hall in Rutherford.  Another private tasting and tour, showcasing the unique vision of the owners of the winery, as well as some fantastic wine.  We tasted the 09 Napa Valley Sauvignon Blanc ($22, 3/5), the 07 Cabernet Sauvignon ($44, 4/5), the 07 “Katherine Hall” Cabernet Sauvignon ($80, 5/5), the T Bar T Cabernet Sauvignon ($45, 3/5), and as a special treat, the 06 Darwin Red Blend (Cab, Syrah) ($40, 4/5).  (The Darwin wine comes with a great story). 

The Hall Rutherford winery is stunning.  There are incredible views in their reception area, and the construction of their caves from Austrian bricks is amazing.  The entire winery is home to unique modern (and in some cases, priceless) art, kept in the working areas to remind the folks making wine that they too are artists. 

Our final winery visit was to Corison.  Another private tasting and quick tour of the small facility, some more outstanding wines.  We had the 07 Corazon Gewürztraminer ($30, 4/5), the 07 Cabernet Rose ($24, 3/5), the 07 Cabernet Sauvignon ($70, 3/5), and the 06 Kronos Cabernet ($98, 4/5).  Because these wines are not widely distributed, I asked to buy the Kronos, and our tasting guide suggested the 05 as it should be a better vintage and drinking better now.    I’m looking forward to it.

Now that we’re back, we are already planning our next trip out.  We loved the hotel, so we will probably stay there again.  We’d like to rent a mini van or SUV and convince some friends to come along for a 5 day trip, 3 days of as many private tastings/tours as we can schedule, a day in Calistoga, and a free day.  We need to get to the French Laundry, too.

I’m also trying to figure out how we can move there.

One disclosure:  As Lexus owners, our tastings at Hall and Corison were comped as part of an affinity program.  I at no time identified myself as a wine blogger or that any review would be published, the wonderful treatment we got at each winery was evidence only of the wineries’ committment to customer service (and selling wine, of course).

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