At a dinner party Saturday (8 people), a couple of neighbors and Ms. Chitown enjoyed some strip steaks and a couple of bottles of the 2000 Chateau Montelena Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon. The Napa Valley or "Calistoga Cuvee" as it states on the bottle was $30 from the Binnys here in Chicagoland. It was not the Estate Reserve.

The blend is 75% Cabernet Sauvignon and 25% Merlot.

I brought two bottles from the wine cellar to open and come to room temperature for about 45 minutes. The cork in the first bottle showed some seepage up the side of the cork but only about 1/3 of the way. A quick sniff and tasting confirmed that the wine was okay, but I put it aside to be the second bottle just in case.

My first thought was that it showed a lot of Merlot smells and flavors with not much CS bite. By the time dinner was served, the armoas were much frutier. The sense of black cherry and potentially plum on the front end and some tannic backbones at the finish. Overall a very nice smooth wine that went very well with dinner.

At the end of the night, all at dinner loved the choice. Even the one guest who brought her own bottle of Estancia Pinot Noir and insisted that it was opened said that "although I normally do not like red wines, this is delicious." Since her husband is a beer drinker I guess they will not be invited to my summer wine tasting party.

All's well that ends well.

This weekend is another dinner party 12-14 guests and we are going to try a Franciscan 2001 CS which should be a good comparison.

"Quickly, bring me a beaker of wine, so that I may wet my mind and say something clever" - Aristophanes

Thanks for the notes. I haven't had the Chateau Montelena, but did enjoy the '01 Franciscan quite a bit. I'd be interested to hear how they compare.

thanks for the note ! still workingb on the 98cuvee. just might open one tonight.

sorry open the 99 instead, have more of them,well try in a couple of weeks thanks again.

2000 Chateau Montelena (not the estate).

Color was very dark in the glass, a little bottle time has deepened the wine and allowed it to evolve into something I was quite suprised by. Monty has not had good press lately and been the subject of bad bottles, but this bottle was great! My expectations were not high because of the off vintage, but it did not disappoint. Nice big mouthfeel, tannins were integrating, oak mellowing out into soft vanilla. Huge cassis and black fruit. Finish was classic Monty. This was my suprise of the night because my expectations were exceeded. It was well recieved by other tasters. This was the 2nd wine served with the main course of Beef Stroganoff.

In the Bag, funny but this bottle came from Binny's in Chicago too! Bought it on a trip out there this last spring.

ks