Tom Garland

9.3

+1 hour decant(decent chunky/fine sediment). A splendid dark ruby red color. On the nose: Intoxicating/intense nose of black fruit, dark currants, worn leather, forest floor, coffee grounds, minty dark chocolate. Taste: smooth, satiny, structured, balanced wine with chocolate covered brambly blackberry, tobacco, earth, cedar, black pepper, and a herbal licorice long finish. A medium body old world style wine that shows well right now and should continue to provide more years of enjoyable sipping. — a month ago

with Brenda

Charles York

9.2

Grapefruit, lots of it. Raisin. Chewy. First smell was pommard-like. Good new world Pinot. — 3 years ago

Lyle Fass

Founder Fass Selections

9.3

Lovely ephemeral nose. Silken gossamer. Wilted roses. Expansive and just beautiful. Cherry. Strawberry. 9.4 almost 9.5 nose. Out of this world. Palate is sweet, silky and so elegant. Lovely sappy cherry fruit on the mid and then they crash like a soft wave on the finish. This is so so pretty. Really wowing me on pop and pour. Fresh so fresh. Everything is in its place. — 4 years ago

with Matthew

Pinotman /// Andreas

9.5

This just happens to be excellent. Very burgundy like. In fact blind this would be tough. Exuberant sour cherry and cherry. Incredible tannins. Unspitable! Hint pine. Lemon. Hint elderberry. I am a fan. With age this will be interesting to follow. Perhaps because of the extra fruit may be may be i would have guessed new world……????? On the expensive side 72$ at Birdrock Fine Wines. — 5 months ago

Lyn Farmer

9.3

A lovely melding of Old World finesse and New World exuberance. Green apple, pear, white peach, ripe lemon oil, flint, acacia, and the barest hint of toasted brioche. Mouth watering acidity but not at the expense of texture. Long, beautifully ripe finish. Stunning. — 2 years ago

Shay A

9.5

WNH Montelena Estate virtual tasting. Others represented were the ‘94 (evidently corked), ‘01, ‘03, ‘07, ‘15.

I may be an outlier here, but Montelena is one of the few wineries where I not only don’t care for them young, I just honestly don’t enjoy them at all (and that’s coming from someone who enjoys the likes of Myriad, Bevan, Rivers Marie, etc on the young side). For my preference, they are just so vastly better with 15+yrs of age to them. YMMV.

After standing this upright for about two weeks, I gave this about a 45min decant. Starting off fairly thin and having some funk to blow off, it really bulked up after an hour and a half. Dark ruby/tawny in the glass. Reminiscent of left bank Bordeaux (leather, herbs de Provence, only a hint of tobacco), but a sweet cherry liqueur and dried cranberry on the nose bring this back to possibly New World. On the palate it sports underripe and dried black cherries, red clay, cedar, bay leaf, and earthy tertiary notes. Gripping, tannic finish with balanced acidity. In harmony here. I’d say this likely has another 3-5yrs in this beautiful drinking window before evolving more. — 4 years ago

Paul J

9.5

Best Rose in the world! Haven’t had or bought this vintage yet.

Dark Salmon color. Rich on the palate with strawberries and peach. Massive depth and finish for a Rose. — 6 months ago

with Brooke and Geoff

Jose Lorenzo

9.3

Beautiful golden hue. Creamy, Wildflowers, grapefruit. Probably the best Viura on the market. Cheers — 9 months ago

Andy Hall

9.5

Always strong! Old world nose, robust fruit and balanced acid. — 4 years ago

Francesca Caldara

9.4

little bit of spice, then juice — 4 years ago