Montelena Vertical

While the Cubs were busy losing game 1, I was busy enjoying a vertical tasting of Chateau Montelena. Held at Binny's in Highland Park the event was put on by Montelena's regional sales rep. Talk about a big territory, this one guy covers the entirety of the American West from Chicago to Arizona, excluding only California. The rep was also a fly fisherman, so needles to say I was a bit jealous of his position.

On to the wine. Its a treat to get to taste 7 years worth of any winery's wine, let alone Montelena. For those that don't know, Montelena was central in the 1976 Paris Tasting, and is a favorite of Robert Parker, as well as actually producing a fantastic wine that ages quite gracefully.

I will never be the one waxing on about tasting notes, frankly I'm just not that into it. What I will say is that the 1998, 2002 and 2004 all stand out in my mind. All the wines were good, but those just had a special quality about them that jumped out. I own a bottle of the 2002 and was very excited to find that it was showing so well. I'm looking forward to popping it in a few years.

I really think this kind of tasting is a fantastic way to learn more about wine. You can go to all kinds of large tastings, but its the seated classroom type tastings that really up your game.

I'm going to try to get back to highlighting events going forward, so look for some ideas going forward.