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Though we associate Chateau Montelena with Cabernet Sauvignon, Chardonnay, and Calistoga, we shouldn’t overlook their tasty Riesling from the organic McFadden Farm in Mendocino’s Potter Valley. The high-elevation vineyard’s cool summer nights allow Riesling grapes to ripen slowly, developing lovely aromas and rich flavors while maintaining excellent acidity. According to Matt Clifton, in spite of a hot late summer in 2022 that speeded up ripening, the Riesling fruit matured beautifully. The 2022 is rich wine with concentration and complexity but so versatile, you can enjoy it with lunch, dinner, or over a leisurely afternoon. The floral notes and stone fruit aromas capture attention while the wine’s subtle balance of sweetness and acidity can pair well with spicy Asian dishes as well as salads, blue or goat cheeses, sausages, or pork. As Matt Clifton describes it, the wine is “mouthcoating without being cloying, and rich without being fatiguing. It’s a sublime wine with incredible potential.”
Founded in the 1880s, Chateau Montelena was named for Mt. Saint Helena, the imposing peak that looks over the upper Napa Valley where the winery is located. For decades one of the valley’s top quality wine producers, the estate struggled in the years after prohibition and even ceased making wine from its grapes. That all changed in the late 1960s, when a group of partners led by Jim Barret revived the estate, restoring the iconic chateau-like winery building, the Chinese-themed gardens, and, most of all, the vineyards. In no time, Chateau Montelena was making wine that, along with other pioneers of that era, vaulted the Napa Valley into the major leagues of premium wine production. Indeed, by 1976 Chateau Montelena not only emerged as one of Napa Valley’s premier wineries, but awakened the entire world to the quality of California wine, when its 1973 Alexander Valley Chardonnay won first place in the infamous Paris Tasting, in which some of France’s greatest wine critics rated the Chateau Montelena above some of the most illustrious of white burgundies.
Since 1981, Bo Barret, son of the founder, has overseen the winemaking at Chateau Montelena, pursuing the goal of making flavorful but elegant, complex and age-worthy wines in the French style. Unlike many of its peers, Chateau Montelena’s wines do not undergo barrel fermentation, malolactic fermentation or even aging in exclusively new oak barrels in order to emphasize the nuances of the terroir and the natural flavors of the grapes.
The 98-acre Montelena Estate vineyards, spanning flatlands and hillsides north of the winery alongside the Napa River, features a rich mix of alluvial, sedimentary and volcanic soils as well as an intriguing variety of microclimates. Primarily planted to Cabernet Sauvignon and Cabernet Franc, the estate also includes several blocs of Zinfandel. Vines planted in these rocky soils are naturally low-yielding, and such techniques as organic pest control, dry farming, and crop thinning bring yields down even further. The results of such low yields are evidenced in the consistent quality of the “Estate” wines: full-bodied, intense and flavorful - though somewhat tannic in their youth - elegant, complex and age-worthy.
In addition to the “Estate” wines, Chateau Montelena also produces Cabernet Sauvignon from vineyards elsewhere in the Napa Valley, Chardonnay from both the Napa and Alexander valleys and a small amount of Riesling from the Potter Valley in Mendicino County.
| Country | USA |
| Region | California |
| Appellation(s) | Potter Valley (Mendocino) |
| Winery | Ch. Montelena |
| Vintage | 2022 |
| Color | White |
| Varietal(s) | Riesling |
| Closure | Cork |
| Volume | 750ml |
| Bottle Size | 7.5 x 33.5 |
| Case Size | 32.0 x 25.0 x 34.5 |
| Alcohol | 12.8% |
| Product Code | MT22RSL |
| UPC | NONE |
The nose starts with aromas of ginger, apricots, dried peach and hints of lime leaf. Asian pear and cinnamon emerge on the palate, which deepens with layers of lemon, pineapple, and honey, offering a balance of weight and fresh acidity.
Fermented in stainless steel and aged six months in both stainless steel and neutral oak barrels.