Product

2005 Chateau Montelena Estate Cabernet Sauvignon (California - Napa Valley, United States)
Wine - Red $154.99 (750mL)

Montelena is one of the most highly-respected producers in Napa and this most Bordeaux-esque wine has been remarkably consistent over the last three decades. The wine boasts a saturated inky/purple color as well as extraordinary density of fruit and cassis, and huge tannin, body, and extract. It is a substantial, palate-staining, long, muscular Cabernet that should only be purchased by connoisseurs with cold cellars as well as patience. The Estate Cabernet Sauvignon remains one of California's most remarkable Cabernets.

Stephen Tanzer, Int'l Wine Cellar

Rating: 93

Good deep ruby-red. Complex aromas of currant, licorice, graphite, bitter chocolate, smoked meat, tobacco and brown spices. Began juicy, penetrating and quite youthfully unevolved, but aeration brought a suppler, rounder texture and more generosity to this impressively structured wine. Complicating notes of bitter cherry, menthol and minerals. This will require a good eight to ten years of aging but the substantial tannins are sweet and lush. Very long, pure and powerful on the finish. Barrett compared this to top previous vintages like 1986 and 1997, the latter, he admitted, "a brett wine."

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