On Jun 10, 9:10*am, "Bi!!" > wrote:
> On Jun 10, 11:30*am, Mark Lipton > wrote:
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> > On 6/10/11 10:40 AM, Bi!! wrote:
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> > > I opened a double magnum last night of 1994 Chateau Montelena Estate
> > > Cabernet. *We had a fairly large group of neighbors put together an ad
> > > hoc get together of food and wine. *Lots of fun. *I started with a
> > > glass of Nino Franco "Rustico" Prosecco NV. *Fairly golden in the
> > > glass, nice nose of yeasty berries. *Nice fruity profile on the
> > > palate.
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> > > I opened the 1994 Double Mag of Chateau Montelena Estate Napa Cabernet
> > > about an hour before drilnking and decanted into three decanters. *The
> > > wine was dark purple with a brickish cast to it certainly showing some
> > > age. *FWIW, the cork was really quite short on one side as if it never
> > > expanded on that dise when it was inserted however it was still tight
> > > and intact. *The nose showed a lot of cedar and lead pencil with a
> > > fair amount of cassis. *Still firm and rich on the palate reminding me
> > > of Bordeaux. *Lots of blackberry, black currant, tobacco and leather
> > > on the palate. "B+"
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> > Wow. *I expect that, especially in large format bottles, '94 Ch.
> > Montelena is still a decade or two from complete readiness. *It sounds
> > like your bottle was a bit closed down, Bill.
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> > Mark Lipton
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> > --
> > alt.food.wine FAQ: *http://winefaq.cwdjr.net
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> It was a bit closed and a bit more mature than I expected. *I think
> the ripeness levels were a bit higher than normal for Montelena in
> 1994 and it was the beginning of the plush tannin and push towards
> riper fleshier styles that began to overtake Napa in the 90's.

Since it is a large format bottle, the cork may have been inserted
manually -- that is, using a manually operated corking device, rather
than a pneumatic corker -- that draws a vacuum in the bottle -- which
is used for high-volume bottling of 750s. This might account for the
asymmetrical cork. It may also account for faster aging, because more
oxygen would be in the ullage. Just a possibility, as I know nothing
about cellar practices at Montelana.

Andy