Staff Pick

Ch. Montelena Chardonnay, Napa - 2021

Name: Ch. Montelena Chardonnay, Napa
Brand: Ch. Montelena
SKU: 67704
Price: 78.99 USD
Availability: InStock

Item # 67704 750mL

In the glass the wine is exactly what you would expect from a young Montelena Chardonnay, showing bright yellow gold, with good color density. It smells great, like a green apple pie, bright and a little citrus-y, a bowlful of fresh fruit. The palate is very nice, very smooth, with classic Chardonnay flavors of apple and kiwi, and a lovely finish that leaves the palate refreshed and wanting more.

$78.99/ Single Bottle

$947.88 $853.09/ Case of 12

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Color

White

Vintage

2021

Country

USA

Region

California

Sub-Region

Napa

Producer

Ch. Montelena

Grape Variety

Chardonnay

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Staff Pick Notes

There’s nothing to say about this bottle that hasn’t already been said. The producer? Infamous. The style? Burgundian. The history? Storied. It’s everything you’d want in a White Burgundy – lemon zest, cream, vanilla, pear, and morning dew – except you don’t have to pay an importing fee to get it. This is Chardonnay in its best possible form – fresh and zesty with a creamy texture. And the critics agree! In 1976, at the Tasting of Paris, several French critics chose this bottle blind over the best French Chardonnays Stephen Spurrier could find. Legend has it that when they revealed the winning bottle, the critics were aghast. A California wine winning over hundred-year-old French producers? Unheard of. Until then.You can thank this bottle for much of what the California wine industry has become today.

- CF

About the Producer

Chateau Montelena Napa Valley, California, USA In January 1882, Alfred L. Tubbs purchased the 254 acre vineyard parcel twp miles north of Calistoga at the base of Mount St. Helena. He had heard that Napa Valley was a good place to grow grapes in California and found the soils in this parcel to be loose, well-drained and stony - just perfect for the vines he would plant. Tubbs planted his...

Read more about Ch. Montelena

Glossary

California

California makes more wine than any other state in the United States. Not only does the state grow a variety of noble grape varieties like Pinot Noir, Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon, there are also plantings of lesser-known varieties such as Nebbiolo, Roussanne and Mourvèdre to name just a few.

Chardonnay

From Champagne to Chablis, it's hard (not to mention unpleasant) to avoid this famous white variety. During a huge popularity surge beginning in the late 1980s, Chardonnay plantings have increased dramatically -- not only in California's wine country, with which the variety is nearly synonymous, but also in Burgundy (its original, Old World home) and just about everywhere else in the winemaking world. It is a flexible, eager-to-please grape, responding well to just about anything a winemaker...