WTN: Estate Planning

[David M. Bueker]

• 1996 Chateau Montelena Cabernet Sauvignon The Montelena Estate - USA, California, Napa Valley (6/20/2024)
  Another bottle from my late father’s cellar, and this one is spot on. 1991, 1994, and 1997 get all the love, but for me 1996 brings the goods. Multiple bottles of this and the Beringer Private Reserve have been totally integrated, balanced, and packing for a long trip. Each sip was essence of Cabernet Sauvignon, with deep red fruit peering through a curtain of cedar and tobacco leaf. If offered it, I would trade a lot of other wines for more bottles of this to drink over the next 5-10 years.

[Jenise]

Sounds wonderful. I would have been a little worried about 96 holding up the way I'd expect of 94 and 95, but obviously there's no problem here at all.

[David M. Bueker]

Nope. So far the ‘96s have been exceptional.