On Oct 13, 11:22*am, "Bi!!" > wrote:
> 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"

Bill, I've been buying the Montelena Estate Cab for years. NO issues
EVER including the 2001.

Don't get me started on Laube of WS as In my opinion he is an
egomaniac. That same article he said he trained his pallatte to
detect cork taint to less than 1 part per million....it's simply NOT
detectable at those levels.

I heard a rumor years back that may NOT be true. The rumor was passed
to me from a winemaker who knew JL wife. Supposedly he was playing
base coach and got hit in the head with a baseball. Result, he could
NOT taste anymore. That he lost sense of taste, smell etc. Then,
this article came out on his training his pallatte. Imalways wondered
if there was any truth to the rumor after I saw him overcompensating.
Well, you never can trust a rumor...I bought the 2001 anyway...it was
nice.