Most people, when they think about Napa Cabernet, are thinking about the wines that followed Chateau Montelena's lead. That is worth bearing in mind before we get into the offer.
In 1976, a panel of French judges tasted four white Burgundies against six California Chardonnays blind and ranked a 1973 Chateau Montelena Chardonnay at the top. The story has been told many times since. A bottle of that wine now sits in the Smithsonian. The event was turned into a film. But the reason it still matters is not the drama of it; it's that this is one of the few wineries in California with a legitimate claim to having changed how the world thinks about wine, and it did so not by accident but by farming and making wine with genuine seriousness.
The Estate Cabernet Sauvignon is a different wine from the one that won in Paris, but it carries the same philosophy. The property sits just north of Calistoga, at the northern end of Napa Valley, and has been in continuous use since 1882. Jim Barrett purchased it in 1972 with the stated ambition of making wine at the level of the great Bordeaux First Growths. His son Bo has been winemaker since the early 1980s, his intimate knowledge of each block built up across four decades of harvests. Bo now works alongside Matt Crafton, who joined in 2008.
What separates these wines from the more hedonistic end of the Napa spectrum is restraint. The style sits closer to Bordeaux than to the extracted, high-alcohol Cabs that dominated the 1990s and 2000s. Fermented in stainless steel, aged for around 22 months in roughly 20 to 25 percent new French oak, and built to last. The estate's soils are a diverse mix of alluvial and volcanic material that gives the wines an earthy, site-specific character that does not come from technique. The chateau itself has been on the National Register of Historic Places since 2013.
This is a pre-shipment offer. Wines will arrive with you in approximately four weeks. Stock is 36 bottles per vintage. Prices are per bottle, inc. VAT.
2010 / £141
A persistently cool growing season followed by a late August heat wave. The cool summer provided long hang time and excellent flavour development; the heat wave concentrated what was already there. James Suckling described it as showing a refinement and balance one expects from traditional Napa Cabernet, with well-integrated tannins and a long finish. Still in good shape, and priced accordingly given its age.
2011 / £117
The most affordable wine in this offer and, for my money, one of the most instructive. It was a difficult vintage across Napa: the season started late, stayed cool throughout, and slowed ripening significantly. Bo Barrett dropped a substantial amount of fruit to concentrate what remained and described picking late despite Calistoga being an early-ripening site. The wine is the most Bordelaise of the range, elegant and floral with a long, subtle finish and a vein of bright acidity running through everything. Difficult vintages are where you find out who is actually farming carefully. Montelena made a good wine.
2012 / £134
Montelena considers 2012 one of the finest expressions of the estate in recent memory, and the reason comes down to a quirk of the site. As the rest of the valley dealt with triple-digit heat in August, reliable northerly breezes from the Pacific funnelled down Mount St. Helena to cool Calistoga in the afternoons. The wine shows dried cherry, cocoa and blackberry on the nose, with the estate's characteristic rocky, earthy texture on the palate. Rich and structured, with years ahead of it.
2013 / £147
One of the standout vintages in this offer. Conditions were warm and consistent throughout, and the normally late-ripening Cabernet reached maturity earlier than usual, which mattered because rain arrived in late September. The wine is dense and concentrated, with black cherry, currant and cassis over firm, well-managed structure. It still has plenty ahead of it. Wine Advocate awarded 93 points.
2014 / £147
Near-ideal conditions: a mild growing season, no significant rain at harvest, everything arriving at the right time. Wine Advocate called it a total knock-out that captures all the potential of this great site, powerful and voluptuous and yet very much within the classical mould that has defined Montelena for decades. The nose moves from cassis and vanilla through to fresh blueberry; the palate is polished and long. 93 points.
2015 / £147
A warm, drought-affected year in California, but Montelena's site handled it well. The wine is more forward and voluptuous than 2014, with softer tannins and generous fruit held in place by the estate's characteristic acidity. If you want something to open in the next two or three years, this is the vintage to start with.
2016 / £155
The one to put down. After an unsettled spring, summer settled into a moderate, even season with slow ripening across the estate. Matt Crafton describes the wine as unapologetically Montelena: built to their own standard rather than to vintage expectation or trend. The result is polished and age-worthy, with cassis, tapenade and floral notes over a silky texture and well-integrated tannins. Wine Advocate awarded 93 points. In ten years this will be the bottle you reach for first.
2017 / £147
Blueberry, sage and cedar on the nose, moving to black pepper and dried cherry with air. Accessible now but built for the medium term. The estate's characteristic balance between California ripeness and Old World structure is clearly present, and there is more than enough depth here to reward a few more years in the cellar.
Reply to claim any vintages, or get in touch if you want a steer on which to prioritise.
Cheers,
Mike