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Montelena Estate Cabernet Sauvignon 1987
HED60322
75cl
14%
£375.00
£312.50 ex-VAT
Pay ex-VAT when shipping outside the UK
The iconic Chateau Montelena was founded in 1882 and undoubtedly helped place California on the fine wine map when it took out one of the top prizes at the 1976 ‘Judgement of Paris’. Well-known for their European-styled and exceptionally long-lived Cabernet Sauvignon, their full charm and character is only revealed with bottle age. The 1987 is a candidate for one of their finest ever releases with its extraordinary multi-layered complexity and seemingly limitless capacity to improve over time.
- Medium red with an amber edge. Musky scents of redcurrant, raspberry, dried flowers, graphite and brown spices convey an element of surmaturité. A step up in thickness from the '86, showing noteworthy intensity but also a suggestion of dehydrated fruit. This tastes like a reduction of Cabernet owing to the small crop. Finishes with building, tongue-saturating tannins and a balsamic quality. Offers surprising verve, at least in part due to acidification (Barrett described the fruit in '87 as acid-deficient). Incidentally, the vines here were dry-farmed until the estate began installing irrigation in 1991. A second bottle tasted about two weeks later showed a healthier dark red color; smooth, claret-like flavors of dark berries, black cherry, tobacco, minerals and herbs; and plenty of dusty tannins. It came across as a bit fresher than the sample at the winery, which I scored 90 points. (14% alcohol)
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