2007 Chateau Montelena Chardonnay Napa Valley
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Tasting notes
Bright yellow. Musky peach, pear and apple fruit aromas and flavors are complicated by flowers and herbs. Concentration and precise, with a dusty impression of extract and very good length. Quite strong for this no-malo chardonnay. Bo Barrett is now vinifying with a higher percentage of whole clusters and getting less bitterness as a result. "So now we don't need as much new oak to compensate," he noted, adding that 2007 was an outstanding vintage for chardonnay as there was no heat stress.
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Robert Parker
Stephen Tanzer, Vinous
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The 2007 Chardonnay offers up aromas of white peaches, apple skins, and crushed rocks presented in a fresh, medium-bodied, dry, zesty format. Drink it over the next few years (some vintages can age over a decade). Chateau Montelena’s sale to the owners of Bordeaux’s well-known second-growth, Chateau Cos d’Estournel, fell through, no doubt because of the global economic crisis. It was unquestionably shocking that this Napa icon was on the block, and about to be sold to, of all people, the French, who Montelena had defeated in the famous Steven Spurrier tasting of 1976. Tasting through the wines with the ever reliable Bo Barrett is always a lesson in candor and honesty. Montelena’s negociant blend of Cabernet Sauvignon, from northern vineyards in the Calistoga area, is meant to represent a Montelena house style, but it is much softer and less ageworthy, thus is the ideal restaurant/steakhouse wine. Tel. (707) 942-5105; Fax (707) 942-4221
About the producer
Chateau Montelena is a historic Napa Valley estate that rose to global fame after its 1973 Chardonnay won the 1976 Judgment of Paris. Renowned for both its Chardonnay and Estate Cabernet Sauvignon, the winery continues to produce elegant, age-worthy wines with a legacy of excellence.