Chateau Montelena The Montelena Estate Calistoga Cabernet Sauvignon 1986

"Odedi"

#AgedWineTuesday Dark ruby in color with a wide brick rim. Beautiful nose of blueberries, black plums, cooked cherries, raisins, dried figs, vanilla, cedar, cola, spices, light must, milk chocolates, tobacco and black pepper. Full bodied and elegant with medium acidity. Dry on the palate with blueberries, plums, cherries, cedar, light vanilla, spices, espresso, cola, light herbs, vegetables, earth and peppercorn. Long finish with round tannins and tangy raspberries. This is a wonderful Cabernet Sauvignon from Napa Valley. The label is gone, but the cork shows the name and vintage. Showing great complexity with a soft mouthfeel. Elegant, fruit forward and rich. So nice right out of the bottle, and after 15 minutes of airtime, tannins show up and bring good structure to the wine. This 36 Year old is still drinking very nicely. Didn't last more than a couple of hours, but we didn't need more than that. I've heard of bottle variation in this vintage. We got lucky this time. A fantastic wine that I couldn't stop smelling. What a beautiful nose. Such a great experience tasting this aged wine. Thank you John for sharing. 94 points.

Randall Moore

Held up far better than I’d expected. Lots of fruit with resolved tannins and modest sediment. Persistent finish. What’s wrong here, if you notice, is the price. Wine shouldn’t be for the super rich only. While it was a stretch when I bought it, I can’t afford current vintages. This is what’s wrong with the wine industry today.

The Schwartz

Brettoramma!