Category Archives: Winery News
Happy President’s Day!
Thomas Jefferson is perhaps best known as our third President, one of our Founding Fathers and author of the Declaration of Independence, but he was also an avid wine collector, wine connoisseur and is widely-recognized as the father of the Virgina wine country (did you know about Virginia wine country?). He also became George Washington’s wine expert, while also serving as Secretary of State, and worked hard to keep the White House stocked with great wine from around the world. If you ever get a chance to visit his Monticello Estate in Virginia, you’ll learn more about the former President’s love of wine and you may be surprised to discover a small vineyard planted on the Estate.
Jefferson truly believed that America was capable of producing the same quality of world-class wine that was coming out of Europe and he was an ardent supporter of the American wine industry. Some 200 years later, wine is now produced in America in all 50 states and we are the fifth most-vine-planted country in the world. We have some of the best wines in the world right in our backyard. As Jefferson once remarked, “Good wine is a necessity of life for me.” We’ll drink to that!
photo courtesy of Appellation America
If you are enjoying the day off today in honor of our Presidents, say a little “Thank You” to Mr. Jefferson and toast with a glass of your favorite American wine.
Tell us, what’s in your glass this President’s Day holiday?
Another Beautiful Day in the Valley.
After a week of rain, Sunday was nearly perfect…light freeze in the morning with a high of around 50…and, of course, perfect sun with snow on the top of the nearby mountains! Thank you to all of our guests who dropped by and enjoyed a tasting.
Your 2007 Montelena Estate Cabernet Sauvignon
For those of you who have ordered the 2007 Montelena Estate Cabernet Sauvignon through the Chateau - get ready. This delicious wine will be sent out to you the week of March 7. Look forward to an email with all the details.
Enjoy!
New Estate Release coming to the Tasting Room
Hold the date! March 1st is the official release of our Estate wines; Cabernet Sauvignon 2007, Zinfandel, 2008.
Happy Birthday, KC!
*This post was written by our own Anne Banfield in honor of her friend Harry Casey’s recent birthday…
“Once in a while we have encounters with special people and the memories of such encounters stay with us forever. A couple of years ago I had the pleasure of hosting Harry Casey, or ‘KC’, of KC and the Sunshine Band, and a couple of his closest friends. The tasting was so much fun that it lasted much longer than planned, but none of us noticed.
Our Chardonnay became an instant favorite of KC’s that day, so it was no surprise, when some weeks back there was a call from one of his band members wanting to order a special bottle to commemorate his special birthday. We took it a step further…. Our very own Bo Barrett hosted a short video to wish Harry a very happy birthday, and we are sharing it with you.
So once again Harry, a Very Happy Birthday to you from all of us at Chateau Montelena. And remember, to keep yourself feeling young, one has to ‘shake, shake, shake’ on a regular basis!”
2007 Zinfandel
I’m tasting the 2007 Estate Zinfandel right now and thinking about how I’m going to miss this wine. We’ll be releasing the 2008 vintage in March and the 2007 will be locked in the wine library. With all of its bright red fruit, pepper and chocolate notes, the 2007 Zin is one of my favorites. We should all buy a few more bottles before it goes away! http://shop.montelena.com/
I'm going to miss this wine...
Bo Barrett on Talk Radio Radio Europe
Watch Us on Cantore Stories
Check us out Thursday February 10 at 9:00 p.m. Eastern Time on Cantore Stories. Jim Cantore visited Chateau Montelena a few months ago and had a lot of fun with us. Let us know what you think. We even captured him on video stomping out a little promo for his show.
Jim Cantore with Master Winemaker Bo Barrett
Wanna Work at a Winery?!
An adult dream job come true? Ever want to work at an historic winery? We’re looking for some temporary help in season (April -Oct) with great personalities! Tell us about yourself. Videos and creative submissions are welcome and encouraged. Tell us why you’d like to join the Montelena team… Some wine knowledge is good; but we’ll teach you the rest. Submit your creativeness by email with “Montelena Dream Job” as the subject. We hope to hear from you soon!
SuperBowl Wrap-Up
SuperBowl weekend brings many things to the forefront of our lives: a great sporting event, fun finger foods, parties with friends and family and, of course, the newest commercials. Normally, we fast-forward through the commercials to get back to our regularly-scheduled programming, but the SuperBowl is different – the commercials are part of the main event! So this year, while enjoying unseasonably warm February weather (80 degrees!?), we sipped some Chateau Montelena Sauvignon Blanc with our spicy chicken wings (an unusual but tasty pairing!) and soaked up the best commercials from the 2011 SuperBowl. Our favorites, in no particular order:
What was your favorite commercial of SuperBowl 2011? And did you discover any unique food/wine pairings? We like those too.
