Our Wines

Current Releases • Mature Wines • Futures • Purchase Wine CellarMaster Wine Club • Vintage Weather Summaries

1995 Montelena Estate Saint Vincent

Winemaker's Notes
The concept of this wine is that the vintage variability of Zinfandel can be tempered by blending in other varieties - the field blend. .  We use an unusually dense Sangiovese to broaden the scope and range of flavors. The idea being that the Zinfandel’s character of briary blackberry and smoke will benefit from the added complexity of the low yield Sangiovese’s intense black cherry and higher acidity, but lower tannin. The significant difference with our wine is in its refined nature - complexity without added weight.

Vintage Weather
Cool. Well above average rainfall. Bloom, veraison and harvest all later than normal. Great ripening weather for 6 weeks.

Tasting Notes
It has a good soft entry which gives way to a fine balance of tannin and acid. The fruit complexity dominates the wine with fresh bold fruit, the blackberry and black cherry which follow the nose. The dense fruit and complex flavors lead to undertones of strawberry and earth. It’s still a little rough like any big vintage Zinfandel would be at this stage of development, but the fine tuning and augmented complexity of our Saint Vincent concept show very well on the palate. It has all the appeal and vigor of a Zinfandel with the polish and refinement we are seeking.

Bo Barrett, Winemaker