The soft, round 2006 Cabernet Sauvignon Napa possesses good berry fruit, seductive tannins, and minimal depth. It represents a very fine glass of Cabernet for enjoying over the next 6-7 years. Chateau Montelena’s sale to the owners of Bordeaux’s well-known second-growth, Chateau Cos d’Estournel, fell through, no doubt because of the global economic crisis. It was unquestionably shocking that this Napa icon was on the block, and about to be sold to, of all people, the French, who Montelena had defeated in the famous Steven Spurrier tasting of 1976. Tasting through the wines with the ever reliable Bo Barrett is always a lesson in candor and honesty. Montelena’s negociant blend of Cabernet Sauvignon, from northern vineyards in the Calistoga area, is meant to represent a Montelena house style, but it is much softer and less ageworthy, thus is the ideal restaurant/steakhouse wine. Tel. (707) 942-5105; Fax (707) 942-4221

There’s some bitterness in this young Cab, enough to interfere with the blackberry and cherry-herb fruit. Tastes very dry, with puckery-astringent tannins. It’s quite a good, rich wine, in a rustic way, and should age for some time, but lacks an essential richness.——S.H.(3/1/2010)—— 87