2002 Chateau Montelena Winery Cabernet Sauvignon Napa Valley Montelena Estate

Vinous Media (VM)

Bright dark red with ruby highlights. Flamboyantly ripe aromas of candied blackberry and baking spices verge on exotic. Larger-scaled and thicker than the more classically structured 2001, yet somehow still with very good definition to its sweet dark berry, black cherry, tar and earth flavors. This rich, deep, viscous wine finishes with big but suave tannins and lingering sweetness. Our bottle seemed starved of oxygen and expanded dramatically with air. This wine's sheer concentration should keep it going for another 20 years. (14.3% alcohol, the highest since 1978)