Yet Another Winner: Chateau Montelena

Continuing our revisit of the wines made famous by the 1976 Judgment of Paris, we have selected Chateau Montelena in the northern end of the Napa Valley near the town of Calistoga, CA. The 1973 Chateau Montelena Chardonnay was the clear winner in the white wine competition, garnering a total of 132 points, more than any other wine in either the white or red category. Once again the upstarts in California turned the wine world on its head. In fact, California wine placed 1st, 3rd, 4th and 6th in the white wine blind tasting.

A great deal has been written, movies made and remade depicting the events of 1976, new legends have been created along the way and many of those center around events at Chateau Montelena. Some true, some invented by Hollywood, but what is true is their exquisite Chardonnay.

On this 35th anniversary of the Judgment of Paris we will compare the 1973 Chardonnay with the 2008. Are they same wine? In name, yes; in style similar; in character and source, not even close. The grapes for the 1973 were sourced from a few different vineyards, mostly in Sonoma County but since the wine was made in Napa, it was classified as a Napa wine. The 2008 grapes came from the wineries own vineyards so the winemaker and vineyard manager exercised considerable influence over the growing process. The entire winemaking process has evolved significantly over the past 35 years and the process at Chateau Montelena is no exception. Right from the harvest all the way through to the final product, the methods bear little resemblance to 1973. In 1973, the grapes were picked at any time of the day, loaded onto trucks and bounced their way to the sorting tables where sorting was mostly done by hand, then on to the crusher. The juice was then pumped to the fermentation tanks and then on to oak barrels for aging. Today, the current science dictates that the grapes be harvested at night so the fruit will be cooler upon arrival and will retain its optimal residual sugar. The fruit is then sent to the mechanical sorter, then to a gentle crusher that simply pops the skin without extracting any of the harsher elements from stems and seeds. The juice is still pumped to fermentation tanks; however, it is then aged in a combination of stainless steel tanks and oak barrels under optimal conditions. The final product being a blend of the oak and stainless batches.

How does the 1973 Chardonnay compare with the 2008? That’s a bit like comparing a ’73 Chevy to a 2008. They bear the same nameplate. They’re made by the same company and contain the same nuts and bolts but that is where the similarities end. Once again, the winemakers in the 70’s were still trying to emulate the French who had set the benchmark for centuries. The white Burgundies of France were the litmus test for the California Chardonnay and Chateau Montelena was no exception. And again, in spite of their attempts to “recreate” a white burgundy, they produced a truly distinctive iteration in the form of the Napa Chardonnay. Considering the winemaking methods employed in 1973, it took considerable skill and a little good fortune on the part of the winemaker to produce such an outstanding wine. The 2008 can only be described as a distant cousin to that earlier vintage. The 2008 Chardonnay is the result of exacting science, carefully managed vineyards and state of the art processing. It is a luscious fruity wine with just a touch of lingering spiciness. It is a beautiful golden color like the California hills with a ripe fruit combination in the bouquet. Overall, I rate this wine a solid Par. An excellent accompaniment to grilled sea scallops topped with a tangy pear chutney.

Scoring

Hole-in-One: a truly outstanding, one-in-a-thousand wine

Eagle: a remarkable sure winner

Par: a very respectable solid performance

Bogey: one off the mark but not terrible

OB: best to avoid this one