Category Archives: Winery News
2010 Riesling; Killer
Have you ever tried our Riesling? If so, hopefully you can back up my blog. If not, you’re missing something special. When we do have it in stock (only about 1600 cases made; sold out in December), we have it in our tasting room lineup for tasting. A lot of people see our flight, and say, “you know, let’s just skip the Riesling.” After insisting they try, 9 out of 10 are amazingly surprised! It’s not the sweet, boring wine that gave Riesling a bad rap over the past 30 years. Germany, France, Austria, and even Australia have been making some wonderful off-dry Rieslings the rest of the world has appreciated far more than us Americans.
Well, mark your calendars! We release the 2010 Riesling in May, and after previewing it, this stuff is gonna fly out of our tasting room. The good news: we made more. The bad news: only 300 cases.
You can get the Riesling: at the Chateau, if you’re a club member, from some of our select restaurant and hotel accounts, or at our tasting room at the St. Francis in San Francisco. Perfect Summer wine (assuming we have a “normal” warm Summer here!); don’t let the initial press on 2010 as a vintage fool you. More on that next week.
Sneak Peak: Franc&Blanc
We’re really looking forward to our upcoming #Franc&Blanc party, here at the winery, on June 25th. What’s not to love about delicious wine, fantastic food, great music and plenty of entertaining games?! We can barely contain our excitement. We’re encouraging guests to wear red (franc) or white (blanc) to declare their wine preference, but we’re also encouraging guests to dress up with fun props, let loose and have fun in our photobooth. The event is still a few months away, but Nyk is already getting ready for his close-up:
What’s your favorite part of a party? The food? The drinks? The games? Tell us what makes an awesome party.
Here comes the sun…finally…
…for the next few days at least.
It’s been a wet few weeks here in Calistoga, but the trend changes tomorrow.
What’s the weather like in your area? Comment and let us know.
The sun will finally shine this week after about 3 weeks of rain.
Meet the Cellar Crew – Eddie Salomon
Over the next few weeks, I’m going to be highlighting our cellar crew. These highly skilled behind-the-scenes workaholics keep production moving along, and make it look effortless. Most of their time is spent doing work in the caves and the warehouse. I thought it was overdue getting them some face time. Keep up the good work fellas!
This is Eddie “El Gato” Salomon. First off, congratulations Eddie on your new beautiful baby girl Victoria Salomon! Mr. Salomon has been with Montelena since 2007, and is the jack-of-all-trades guy in the cellar. Eddie’s nickname is “The Cat” – he demonstrates this every harvest when he crawls around preparing the equipment for crush. What nickname do you go by?
Chateau Montelena at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art
Just this past Monday I had an opportunity to visit the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art. Specifically to see the How Wine Became Modern: Design + Wine exhibit. I was quite pleased to see the information on Judgment of Paris and of course a bottle of the 1973 Chateau Montelena Chardonnay in the exhibit. Have you seen it? If you haven’t and are in the Bay Area I highly recommend stopping by and catching this before it goes.
Museum of Modern Art in San Francisco
The entrance to the exhibit. Judgment of Paris is the first thing you see as you walk in.
A bottle of the 1973 Chateau Montelena Chardonnay and the original Judgment of Paris Article.
Best Sushi In SF? YES
Ever heard of the Dog Patch District in San Francisco? It’s an up-and-coming neighborhood just minutes south of the Giants ballpark. This used to be the neighborhood of shipping commerce, canners, butchers…. and the story goes, homeless dogs roamed these parts in search of scraps. Well, that’s what I’m told. Today, it’s a part of SF’s resurgent urban development with loft condos, bay view offices, and restaurants. Not to miss on the corner of 3rd and 18th is a small, unassuming Sushi Restaurant called Moshi Moshi. And yes, the freshness and variety of their sushi is really second to none, especially when you consider the reasonable prices. If you’re not a sushi eater, their broths for any of the noodle soup dishes are made on premise, with such perfection it’s hard to pass that up on a “cold Summer day” in San Francisco. Do yourself a favor and stop in.
And shameless plug: have a glass of our Zin or Riesling, which they serve there by the glass! There’s a reason why we targeted this restaurant to carry our wine: so we can go there!!
Are You Franc or Blanc?
Have you ever wanted to taste the wines that we make just for the fun of it? Now you can. The winery will host a first-of-its-kind party called Franc&Blanc on Saturday, June 25, 2011 from 3:00 to 7:00 pm where we’ll be pouring two of our limited-production wines – Cabernet Franc and Sauvignon Blanc – along with other wines such as our Estate Cabernet Sauvignon and Napa Valley Chardonnay. There may even be a few other surprise wines here and there.
We’ll have a DJ, food trucks providing plenty of bites that pair with the wines, barrel tasting, a photobooth, vineyard tours, wine classes, games and prizes and much, much more! The Montelena Family will be there too (because we love a great party) and we’re closing the winery down just for this special event.
Tickets are on sale now for general admission and VIP (*note that VIP tickets include transportation to/from the winery and access to a private VIP lounge). Come and join us and declare your preference by wearing red (franc) or white (blanc).
New Digs in SF
If you can’t make it all the way to Calistoga to see us, come check us out in the historic lobby of the Westin St. Francis on Union Square in the City! We’re there representing the Chateau on behalf of the hotel Wednesdays through Saturdays, 1pm-8pm. Say “hi” to Jenn or Ryan, our Chateau Associates, who are there pouring all the good stuff.
…and, if you buy a bottle, you can take it to the Oak Room Restaurant with no corkage! (and don’t pass up on their 3 course prixe fixe menu; if you do the simple math, you’ve made out like a bandit…)
A Visit With Dave Vella
Last week, Vineyard Manager Dave Vella hosted Viticulture student Lynn Pedone for an educational visit, tour and tasting at the winery. If you’ve ever met Dave, you know what a hilarious and engaging personality he has – it’s no surprise that he was the highlight of Lynn’s visit. He’s also incredibly knowledgeable about our unique land at Montelena as he’s been managing the vineyard activities since 1985. To learn more about Lynn’s visit with Dave, read her full blog post at The Grape Grower.
2007 Montelena Estate Cabernet Sauvignon
The 2007 Montelena Estate Cabernet Sauvignon is finally here! We released the wine on March 1st and sent it to many club members this past week. And although the 2007 Estate Cabernet will only get better with time, I know at least a few of you out there couldn’t wait to crack a bottle open. If you did, please let us know what you think.
How is the 2007 Estate Cabernet?
