Chateau Montelena Is A Favorite Ghost Winery

In the spirit of Halloween, the other day I received a bottle of wine from what I consider to be one of the country’s most famous Ghost wineries.

Chateau Montelena Winery, established in 1882 and located in the heart of Napa Valley was once again made famous by a fairly recent movie called Bottle Shock. If you haven’t seen the movie I’m hoping that you’ll go on Netflix and rent it while you still can.

While I won’t destroy the story line for those of you who haven’t watched the movie, it is about the story of how the Californians beat the French in the Judgement of Paris of 1976. Chateau Montelena’s 1973 Chardonnay beat the top French Chardonnays at the tasting, leading Napa Valley to the top rankings for fine wines.

But, prior to that there is a long history at the Chateau, making it one of my favorite Ghost wineries of all time.

Chateau Montelena really began on a chilly morning in 1882 when Alfred L. Tubbs used a spade to turn over some rocky soil outside of Calistoga, a small town at the base of Mt. Saint Helena. Tubbs planted his vineyards and built a beautiful Chateau. By 1896 Chateau Montelena was the Seventh largest winery in the Napa Valley.

Things went well until the passage of Prohibition, at which time the wine industry in America was devastated. Many of the winemakers in America closed their doors forever. Some found ways to still grow grapes, sell the grape concentrate, and supply people who wanted to make their own wines in the privacy of their bathtub at home.

Once Prohibition was repealed the Tubbs family went back to making some wine and selling grapes for home winemakers. However, the Chateau never regained its strength or ability to make wines in the volume it had before Prohibition.

In 1958 the winery was sold in its depressed state to York and Jeannie Frank, who chose the site for their retirement. They excavated a lake on the site, and made a wildlife sanctuary.

It wasn’t until Jim Barrett bought the place, replanted the vineyards, and installed new winemaking equipment that the winery went back into production. In 1972 the first wines were produced in many years, and soon to become famous in the Judgement Of Paris just a few years later. Truly an amazing story of a winery completely dying and being brought back from the dead.

I received a bottle of the winery’s 2008 Cabernet Sauvignon. The wine is picked in small sections allowing the grapes to be perfectly ripened. This creates a better fermentation process as well.

The wine was a deep red in color with hints of tobacco and cocoa on the nose, blending with red currant. The flavors were rich and dark, with black cherry and tobacco. A nice body to the tannins in the wine is balanced nicely with the rich acidity. I definitely noticed this wine open up as the night wore on.

Thanks to the Barrett family for making wines so good that the French remain envious. I highly recommend you reach the winery at www.montelena.com.

Enjoy!!

What Does Good Cabernet Taste Like?

The last few weeks I’ve had several conversations with people in the wine industry about a few winemakers in the region, one in particular, who claim to make superior wines in an “old world style”. I’ll come right out and say that their wines taste like good vinegar to me, however good vinegar makes great salad dressing.

The problem is that there is not a consumer standard for what is supposedly good or bad. It really depends on what people like me, and others who are more educated and highly paid have to write about the wines that they drink. A good score means that you have to like it because some “expert” did.

In preparing for this article I did a little research, beyond just drinking, and was reminded of a few points of reference. A few years ago there was a funny movie that was produced about winemaking, and it wasn’t that over-rated movie Sideways. The movie is called Bottle Shock. You can rent it from most local movie rental places or even download it on Netflix.

Bottle Shock, set in 1976 in California’s wine country is about the story of Steven Spurrier, a British wine merchant who sets out to prove that French wines are superior. He hosts the Judgement of Paris, the world’s first truly intercontinental judging of Cabernet and Chardonnay. The Americans beat the French, like usual, and the French whine, also like usual.

The rest of the movie you’ll have to watch for yourself. However, a few standards of what a good Cabernet are, are established during the Judgement of Paris. Those facts are pretty much immutable.

A good flavor profile for Cabernet Sauvignon begins with the grapes. Grapes that are picked right, with the right amount of sugar should have a soft vegetable flavor that is going to taste a little like Green Bell Pepper. A really established Cabernet vineyard, will produce flavors of Eucalyptus or Mint, which tells you that you are drinking pretty much the best of the best.

Spice is added to Cabernet Sauvignon through barrel aging. Depending on the wood and treatment by the cooper, barrels create different spices that will layer over the grape flavors to develop the wine’s complexity. Flavors of Vanilla, Cassis or Black Currant, Tobacco and Leather come from this aging process.

Lastly, a good winemaker balances the wine with just the right amount of tannin. Silky, smooth tannins that don’t overpower the fruit create a long and beautiful finish to the wine.

If you were wondering who won the 1976 Judgement of Paris, it was Stags Leap Vineyards, with their 1971. Stags Leap, now owned by our friends at St. Michelle, remains to be one of the outstanding examples of what a good cabernet should be. Of course, that region is full of other names such as Heitz or Rombauer.

Locally the best cabernet comes from just a few vineyards. Probably the most famous are Champoux, Seven Hills, Pepperbridge, and recently Ceil du’ Cheval. If you look on your label and see these names, you will likely be drinking what is likely to be the way a good Cabernet Sauvignon should taste.

Enjoy!