The September installment of Pick My Next Bottle focuses on 2005 California “cult” Pinot Noir (see the July installment for background on this series). I plan on opening the winning bottle on September 29th, and publishing an in depth bottle note on October 1st. The contenders for this month are Rochioli West Block and Williams Selyem Flax Vineyard, both from the Russian River Valley, and Kosta Browne…
Chateau Montelena dates back to 1882 when Albert Tubbs bought 254 acres of property just north of Calistoga. Tubbs planted vines and by 1896 Montelena was the 7th largest winery in California. Winemaking came to an end with the onset of Prohibition. The current iteration of Montelena can be traced to 1968, when Jim Barrett was brought on as a…
The August installment of Pick My Next Bottle focuses on 1995 California Cabernet Sauvignon (see the July installment for background on this series). I plan on opening the winning bottle on August 25th, and publishing an in depth bottle note on August 27th. 1995 was the third vintage in a string of four exceptional vintages in Napa Valley. James Laube…
The winner of the first “Pick My Next Bottle” installment was the 1995 Pontet-Canet. The winery is located in Pauillac, and is designated a 5th growth as determined by the classification of 1855.
When I first began collecting and consuming wine 20+ years ago, sites like erobertparker.com, cellartracker.com and winespectator.com did not exist. Aside from hard copy subscriptions to the Wine Advocate or Wine Spectator, it was difficult to get current information on wines you were cellaring.