On Oct 12, 9:31*pm, Lawrence Leichtman > wrote:
> On Oct 12, 9:00*am, "Bi!!" > wrote:
>
> > We grilled lamb chops last night so I opened a bottle of 2002 Chateau
> > Montelena that I found in my orphan bin. *I stopped buying Montelena
> > when the winery was alledgedly hit with TCA issues. *The cost and risk
> > just didn't work for me. *I suspect the bottle was a gift from a
> > dinner guest. *The wine was still quite dark and dense in the glass.
> > Effusive nose of cassis, black plum and Napa dusty notes. *Still quite
> > youthful on the palate with very ripe blackberry, cassis and plum a
> > fair amount of anise a slight smokey note and plush smooth tannins.
> > There is a nice balance to this wine and like most Montelena wines I
> > suspect it can last up to 25 years. *Quite nice 'A-"
>
> Never had problems with Montelena and still buy it.

Maybe you remember but back in 2001 there were significant reports of
TCA contamination at Montelena. Jim Laube of WS gave them incredibly
low marks in the 2001 vintage claiming TCA taint. There was a lot of
back and forth and Laube wrote a column defending his position.
Subsequently Montelena started an ad campaign and direct mail program
to counter the claims. Eventually they brought in an outside company
to decontaminate their cellars to put the critism to rest. You can
get the particulars if you google "montelena TCA"