Wine Spectator: This is on another level from most in the appellation, with gorgeous layers of warm currant confiture, smoldering tobacco, licorice snap, warm paving stone and anise all frame...

Wine Spectator: A bit of a brute, with a very chewy bittersweet ganache, tobacco and roasted fig core splayed open right now by a dagger of roasted apple wood, allspice and cedar. Long and de...

Wine Spectator: A beautiful, floral-tinged style, with a delightfully expressive core of kirsch and linzer torte that bursts forth, while lots of red licorice, bergamot, black tea and blood o...

Robert Parker's Wine Advocate: The 1986 Cabernet Sauvignon Estate is another great success from Chateau Montelena. It is actually performing better than the 1985 at the moment, but in the long run I do not...

Wine Spectator: Really vibrant, with lovely notes of plum, violet and cherry preserves laced with chalky cut that stretches out the finish. Very, very solid. -J.M.

Wine Spectator: Solid, if a bit chunky in feel, with a slightly squared-off charcoal and ganache frame surrounding a core of dark plum, black currant and licorice root. Shows more austerity t...

About this Wine: As I have written many times, all of these wines are produced from rigidly cultivated, bio-dynamically managed vineyards. That has been the rule since Michel Chapoutier fi...

Wine Spectator: A vibrant, taut style, delivering aromas and flavors of cherry, raspberry, spice and mineral tightly wound around a core of steely acidity and dense tannins. Well-proportioned...

Stephen Tanzer's IWC: Opaque purple. Intensely perfumed scents of cherry-cola, blackberry liqueur and Asian spices, with an exotic floral overtone. Weighty but sharply focused black and blue frui...

Wine Spectator: Dense, deep and powerful, a many-layered red that piles on its rich currant, plum, black cherry and peppery spice flavors, finishing with touches of cedar and mint. A glorious...

Wine Spectator: Offers gorgeous mouthfeel, range of fruit and length. A velvety feel belies the dense structure buried here, while thoroughly enticing linzer torte, plum sauce and blackberry ...

Wine Spectator: Delivers a deliciously vibrant core of linzer torte, blackberry confiture and melted licorice snap notes, along with toasted spice and a mouthwatering apple wood accent on the...

Wine Spectator: This is really gorgeous, with a flamboyant display of spice, warm linzer torte, blueberry and plum confiture aromas giving way to fleshy dark fruit and anise notes. Never over...

About this Wine: The blend of grapes used is about 53 percent Cabernet Sauvignon, 33 percent Merlot, 10 percent Cabernet Franc, and 4 percent Petit Verdot. 

Wine Spectator: Dark, but with solid drive all along the way, as dark boysenberry, linzer torte and blackberry fruit courses along, held together by a prominent graphite spine. Long finish is...

Stephen Tanzer's IWC: Vivid ruby. An exotically nose evokes cherry compote, blackberry and smoky Indian spices. Fleshy, sweet and concentrated, with a distinctly spicy quality to it dark berry fl...