Chateau Montelena Winery
- Price Range: $$
- Accepts Credit Cards: Yes
8 reviews
Glen Ellen, CA
"Loxton is by far my favorite winery. We have even joined the wineclub so we can get their new releases (and the discount). I forgot to the…" read more »
27 Reviews for Chateau Montelena Winery
Honestly, I didn't like the Chardonnay. I know it's supposed to be famous, Judgement of Paris blah blah but I just was not amazed. Still a great winery with a lot of history. Located way north off hwy 29, it's a bitch to get too and a bitch to park at. Worst parking lot in Napa possibly. Well worth visit though.
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4 stars because they charge $25 for 3 cab tastings. Otherwise, their wine is superb and I've had their library tastings twice. The 1999 and 2002 were good year for Napa cabs and they showed. This winery is famous for their '73 chardonnay, but I felt they make a top tier cab along the likes of Mondavi, Phelps, Silver Oak, and Bond. What I especially like is the lack of crowds as it's one of the farthest north on Highway 29, but the wine enthusiasts know this is a good place.
Their future programs is flexible, and it's unfortunate I missed out on their 04. As it turns out, 2004 was an excellent year for Napa cabs, beating 2002.
i guess if you drive far enough, you can get away from the snottiness and tourist traps that are taking over napa valley. montelena is a bit out of the way, but well worth it.
they've got a friendly, non-pretentious tasting room - and most importantly, they pour their best stuff. ok i guess i'm a bit of a wine snob by now, but the fact of the matter is, someone from the bay area with access to some of the finest wines in the world is going to have a different appreciation than a typical tourist from kentucky. so it's nice to find a winery willing to pour their full range, instead of just what's sitting around on the bottom shelf.
if you're really into cab, sign up for their futures program - 6 bottles of their best stuff shipped to you at about 50% of the cost. the tradeoff, of course, is that these big 'ol cabs are gonna take a lot of cellaring to mature.
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Tasting: $15 for regular; $25 for library tasting
Famous for: Chardonnay and Cabernet Sauvignon
Worth Another visit? Yes.
I will share a useful technique. At the tasting table, tease the attendant that you might be interested in joining their wine club. When the guy puts his initials on the corner of club membership form, you know he means business. It also helps when you communicate that you are a local (S.F. is considered local). This combination will get you as many pours at you want. Note that this technique does not work at wineries with a waitlist to join their club. Normally, you need to pay $15 for current release tasting plus another $25 for library tasting, but this technique allowed us to get current release tasting for free.
Driving in from S.F., Chateau Montelena, which is at the northern end of Napa Valley, is a bit of hike, but it is worth the trip. Since their tasting room opens at 9:30 AM, you might consider making this your first stop before hitting others which usually open around 10 or 11 AM. So, do let you know that their Chardonnay beat out all the French competitors at Judgment of Paris in 1976? Absolutely! You'll see 1976 stuff everywhere, including a copy of Time Magazine article.
LIBRARY TASTING: If you are interested in their Library Tasting, it is offered on the hour every hour (lasts approx 45 mins). Reservation is recommended, but they welcome walk-in as long as there isn't a bus load of people. Here, you get to try their aged wines, with an excellent hospitality from Ed. He practically gave us a personal wine tasting lesson.
Bottle Prices (as of Aug 2007):
2005 Napa Valley Chardonnay - $40.00
1999 Napa Valley Chardonnay - $47.50
2004 Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon - $45
1999 Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon - $50
2003 Montelena Estate Cabernet Sauvignon - $105
2001 Montelena Estate Cabernet Sauvignon - $125
2000 Montelena Estate Cabernet Sauvignon - $120
1998 Montelena Estate Cabernet Sauvignon - $115
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Ehh. We really wanted to like this place, but it just didn't come though for us. We had a large group and reserved a tasting in the library. (With no books). There were large display boxes of dirt however. Anyway, the person leading the tasting spent a few minutes on the wines, and then launched into a 10 minute schpeal (sp?) on all the different wine club memberships. It felt like we were at one of those horrible time share pitches. The grounds are lovely, and the wines are enjoyable, however. You compare three different years of a single wine, which was unique. You can see the difference age makes on a wine.
This is the most beautiful winery I've ever seen. I've driven past here at least a dozen times and haven't really noticed it before.
The wine was excellent, even though I'm not a big fan of cab's. We left with a bottle of Riesling too.
The grounds are spectacular. The building itself is a must see. It really makes you realize how generic and sterile most wine tasting experiences are. I loved the landscape, a little wild growth balanced with Japanese gardening techniques. A MUST see for sure!
This is by far one of my most favorite Napa wineries. For one, the wine is amazing. In fact I still have a '99 bottle of it in my wine fridge just waiting for it's special day, which come to think of it, might be too late, but hey, you get the point.
The tasting room is beautiful and there isn't any of that snotty we're better than you attitude that seems to prevail at some wineries. But the BEST part of this place are the Koi ponds and little bridges in the back. I swear I fell in love with that moment of life when I sat back here and watched the fish swim around as I sipped wine and realized life can be pretty awesome sometimes.
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3.5 stars
They were shooting a movie here when we visited so didn't get to walk around the grounds.....
They charge for the tasting -- $15 (I think) -- and do not apply to purchase -- and thought they made a pretty hard sell here too which was not a turn on, but their wines are very nice, if overpriced in my opinion.
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Nice place to visit!
Drive on Tubbs too fast and you'll miss the driveway...
Jade pond leading to Chinese-style gazeebo ended with a picnic table under each, that were reserved for winery use only.
Bucket of stale bread to feed ducks.
Cranes and other fowls and fishes enjoy this pond/lake.
First time to Chateau Montelena.
Chateau Montelena is situated near the top of the Napa Valley. It's position makes it a good way to drive up north on highway 29 then south on the Silverado Trail. It is tucked away on a shaded hiltop and has a beautiful entrance. You can walk down and behind the winery to see the original cellar doors as well as go farther down and walk across the bridges that extend over the lake and have a picnic under the asian pagoda-gazebos while admiring the ducks, geese, herons and view.
The wines here are of excellent quality. This is the winery that produced the '73 Chardonnay which bested the whites tasted at the '76 Paris tastings. The lady who was pouring was very friendly and was discussing about an up and coming movie titled "Bottle Shock" which is based upon the '76 Paris Tasting. My aunt, her friend and I had two tastings for $15 between the two of us. It was a good idea since she was driving. However I think it would have been a better deal to have received souvenir glasses.
The current Riesling and Zinfandel releases were delicious and were my favorites of the tasting.
If you can make it to Chateau Montelena, you will not be disappointed.
First off, I love their wine offerings. So much so, that I bought a case of their Riesling, a very good wine at a great price. After my bit of insanity and lugging a case to the car, we went wandering about their grounds.
They have a big lake with lots of ducks. The best part is that they have a big bucket of bread available for duck feeding. It's a lot of fun, you stand on a bridge and throw bread down below to the ducks. They start swimming in from all parts of the lake for your tasty offerings. There's even a big swam that swims up. I also once saw a turtle swimming among them and I kept trying to get bread to the slow little guy. Poor Mr. Turtle, he's too slow, but we love him anyway.
My only minus is that they don't offer discounts for full case purchases. It's still worth it, but every other place offers a discount.
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Very nice place and great wines. It's way the hell up there as far as wine country goes but worth the trip. Nice lake with all sorts of little lake creatures like turtles, swans, ducks, etc. The building itself is gorgeous as it's a castle. The wines you ask? They are certainly known for their great cabs but I was very pleasantly surprised by the Riesling...try it, they only sell it there.
My fiance and both agreed on this during our trip up in Napa. Chateau Montelena is our favorite winery!
The staff there are friendly and helpful. They are very informative about their wine and of course, they are not shy about boasting how their Chardonnay was voted the best in a blind tasting with other French white wines. I don't blame them though - their Chardonnay is one of the best if not the best!
But I must say that their Cabernet Sauvignons are great as well, especially their Estate line.
TIP: Plan accordingly so that you have time to walk around the castle-like property. They have a beautiful garden called The Jade Garden on the premise. It's absolutely serene and beautiful there - great for taking pictures and just to enjoy the scenery!
A unique historical stop in a Calistoga winery. This place reeks with history. The Chateau itself goes back many years. Fine wines crafted and made here. However, i liked the reds much better than the whites. Some were hit and miss.
However, the grounds are really unique and portray that picturesque old time winery and property. You can take a hike down past the lake, and into the vineyards. Beautiful scenes abound as you are in rolling vineyards with the mountains as the backdrop.
If you can take in one of their wine dinners, you will enjoy the room for that event. Historic, grand and elegant. Tasting bar is handsome. Staff is friendly.
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This place is awesome. Not only does Chateau Montelena make some terrific wines (their Chardonnay was one of the American white wines that shocked the world at the Paris tasting of '75), it also happens to be one of the most beautiful places to taste wine anywhere in the Napa Valley.
They set us up in a private tasting room for my friend's 30th Birthday, seating us at a 35 foot banquet table with about 8 different wines to taste each (including several library selections). After we were done tasting, they gave us a full tour of the facilities and the vineyards and gave us a good rundown on the estate vineyard's unique terroir. To top it off, we had lunch in the gazebo out in the middle of the pond below the chateau... we spent part of the time warding off the armies of voracious ducks seeking to steal our delicious grub from Oakville grocery, but that made the afternoon that much more entertaining. If you're going to bother driving all the way up to Calistoga, make sure you pay Montelena a visit while you're there.
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spectacular grounds, exquisite wines, and a hospitable, knowledgeable staff... i don't know what else you could ask for! i suppose a lower tasting fee would be nice, but for once, i think the $15 for 5 samples was well worth it.... and save your pennies for the ridiculously expensive $105 cab -- it's worth it, too :)
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I fell in love with this winery because it reminded of all of the summer trips I spent in Europe from the second I walked on the premises. The hospitality and the depth of the different kinds of tastings you can try really brought me back. Ignore the fat mean black cat in the corner that growls and snars at you, he never actually causes any trouble. If you can spend an additional amount of time, I suggest filling up your wineglasses in whole and taking a stroll thorugh the gardens and ponds on a beautiful day!
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Finally visited Chateau Montelena on my fourth trip to the Napa Valley. It is now an absolute MUST VISIT for future trips! Yes, it's a bit of a hike, but so so worth it. The wines are extraordinary--both red and white, and the surrounding grounds are gorgeous and peaceful. (Love the ducks.)
We heard about this winery when we were at Joseph Phelps (famous for it's cab). The guy next to us whispered, "If you like this, you should go to Chateau Montelena. It's even better." We did. And now we know.
This is my new favorite winery. Go. Go. Go.
Chateau Montelena Winery is great for a bathroom stop after hiking Mt St. Helena. Nice flushed bathrooms and then go outside to see Jade Lake, pretty Chinese garden.
$10 tasting fee, I didn't try.
They're open from 9:30am-4pm daily (except major holidays and the third Saturday in May).
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A lovely setting with a rich history. I recommend their Chardonnay and have impressed many non-chard lovers with it's full-bodied flavor. The tastings are pricey here, but we shared one. We were visiting with my future in-laws and they used to visit this winery years ago...the staff was very friendly when they heard they were bringing in the next generation of wine-lovers in our family.
After reading Christopher B's experience it sounds like things have changed, I do still think their wines are worth it, but that's no excuse for bad staff.
this is such a beautiful winery! i love the castle-like setting and the "lake" in the back. we saw swans and ducks and walked over the little bridges. a very charming place for sure! the wines were good too (especially their cabs and chards), but i didn't buy anything this time around. that might change next time though! :)
A) for a vineyard known for there reserve estate grown cab, you'd think you'd be able to try some. Not the case. B) This is a vineyard still banking on the fact that they won a blind tasting contest of there chard back in the 70's. C) I've gone twice, and had the same taster both times, and he was kinda creepy and snotty towards my friends and I. Some of the wines are good don't get me wrong, they have a nice Zin. And the facility is amazing on the outside, and warm on the inside.
what i like mostly about this little winery is that its like visting a perfect mini-castle all covered in vines. just beautiful, inside is too. we took a tour and i'll admit now-- i think i liked the wines so much because i had been to 4 other winerys already that day (hiccup) :)
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big fan. it's a castle, for goodness sake... with amazing wine and grounds that are gorgeous, i highly recommend a visit. and, who doesn't like a story about beating the french? ;)
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Terrible atmosphere and wait staff. We were told that this winery had a rich history, and was one of the oldest in the Napa Valley. The only thing on display was a shrine to a coo in the 70s where they took home some prize from France. The wine offered for the tasting were not good - but we probably put off by the rude wait staff.
serene lake, beautiful fountain, incredible world class cabernets.
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Beautiful place to visit, and very nice wines.
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