Chateau Montelena Estate Cabernet Sauvignon 2002
- wa95
- ws94
- we93
- st93
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Category | Red Wine |
Varietals | |
Origin | California, Napa Valley |
Brand | Chateau Montelena |
Alcohol/vol | 14.3% |
Other vintages
Wine Advocate
- wa95
The 2002 Cabernet Sauvignon Estate, one of the most powerful Cabernets the Barretts have made, is reminiscent of the profound 1987. A blend of 99% Cabernet Sauvignon and 1% Cabernet Franc, it tips the scales at 14.3% alcohol. The wine has a sensational nose of sweet creme de cassis liqueur intermixed with notes of beef blood, licorice, and underbrush. Full-bodied and more flamboyant than the more structured, muscular 2001, the 2002 is fleshier with more glycerin and higher alcohol. This chewy effort should be ready for prime-time drinking a few years ahead of the more rigid 2001. Anticipated maturity: 2008-2025.
Wine Spectator
- ws94
Firm, intense and tough-edged, as Montelena often is early on, but with a solid core of spicy currant and blackberry fruit that's deep and concentrated. The finish keeps a tight focus.
Wine Enthusiast
- we93
Right now this wine is strutting its stuff, showing dense, fudge-like scents of tobacco, cassis and whiffs of vanilla and coconut and flavors of blackberry with lashings of vanilla and cocoa. But like many vintages of Montelena, expect this one to shut down in another year only to reemerge as a beauty around age 10 or 12. Another classic.
International Wine Cellar
- st93
Good deep ruby-red. Highly aromatic nose combines musky redcurrant and tobacco. Plush, broad and fine-grained; atypically sexy and showy for this wine, in much the same way that Montelena's basic 2002 Napa cabernet is unusually pliant and rich. Finishes with big, dusty, but rather suave tannins. This offers early accessibility but has the material and structure for extended aging. The alcohol here is 14.3%, the highest since the 1978, which was 14.4%. 93 points