Last night, with a heavy snowfall already in the works, we hunkered down indoors and cooked some lamb chops that Jean had thoughtfully provisioned us with. To accompany the lamb, I went down in the cellar and came back with:
1999 Chateau Montelena "Calistoga Cuvée" nose: pencil lead, cassis, black cherry palate: finely grained tannins, balanced acidity, primary flavors
This "second label" of Chateau Montelena (and no longer produced IIRC) was purchased at the winery in '01. One of the finest, if not the finest, Calistoga Cuvées I can recall tasting, it is still going strong now. Like its big sibling, my one concern is that it doesn't seem to develop any tertiary characteristics. That, however, is a fairly minor quibble, as this is a terrific example of a balanced, food-friendly CalCab.
Mark Lipton