Winemaker Notes
The 1988 vintage naturally had good fruit density, but we carefully crafted the wine to result in a mouth-filling, balanced texture that shows our experience in dealing with highly extractive vintages. This Cabernet is showing its potential early on, but an even greater reward will come with additional bottle age.
Professional Ratings
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Decanter
Drought-plagued, with tiny yields of 1.25 tons to the acre (half the typical yield), this vintage was a turning point for Montelena. It was the vintage that convinced Jim Barrett to buy a de-stemmer. Prior to this year, all the vineyards had been dry-farmed. It’s dark and brooding, with powerful dense plum and earth flavours, firm chewy tannins, and plenty of intensity.
A noble variety bestowed with both power and concentration, Cabernet Sauvignon enjoys success all over the globe, its best examples showing potential to age beautifully for decades. Cabernet Sauvignon flourishes in Bordeaux's Medoc where it is often blended with Merlot and smaller amounts of some combination of Cabernet Franc, Malbecand Petit Verdot. In the Napa Valley, ‘Cab’ is responsible for some of the world’s most prestigious, age-worthy and sought-after “cult” wines. Somm Secret—DNA profiling in 1997 revealed that Cabernet Sauvignon was born from a spontaneous crossing of Cabernet Franc and Sauvignon Blanc in 17th century southwest France.
One of Napa Valley’s oldest wine growing subregions but last to gain appellation status, Calistoga occupies the northernmost section of the valley. Beginning at the foot of Mount St. Helena, its vineyards stretch over steep canyons and roll out onto the valley floor. The soils in Calistoga are volcanic, which means they are heavy in minerals, low in organic matter and allow good drainage for vine roots, creating less green growth and more concentration of flavor within the grape berries.
Summer days are very hot but most nights cool down with moist ocean breezes sneaking in over the Mayacamas Mountains or from Knights Valley to its northwest.
Cabernet Sauvignon is the area’s star variety with Zinfandel coming in a strong second, though the latter commands far less price per tonnage so continues to be outshined by Cabernet in vineyard acreage, save for some important exceptions.