Chateau Montelena Winery
The Chateau Montelena winery is the oldest winery in California's Napa Valley AVA wine region , USA .
In 1882, the entrepreneur acquired Alfred L. Tubbs from San Francisco 103 hectares of land at the foot of Mount Saint Helena, two miles north of Calistoga . After only four years he exported his wine to France . During the prohibition period in America (1920 to 1933) the winery was idle. After the ban was lifted, the Tubbs family resumed operations until they sold it in 1958.
The winery passed into the hands of the married couple Yort and Jeanie Frank , who opened a guesthouse in the historic buildings in addition to viticulture. Under the leadership of the winemaker Mike Grgich and the oenologist James Barrett, the vineyard was newly laid out and modernized. In 1972 the first wine was produced from the Zinfandel grape.
Four years later, in 1976, Chateau Montelena received international recognition from the Paris wine jury . In a blind tasting, the 1973 Chateau-Montelena- Chardonnay relegated all other Chardonnays including the leading white Burgundy wines to their places.
In July 2008 it was announced that Michel Reybier, owner of the Bordeaux winery Château Cos d'Estournel , had taken over Chateau Montelena from Jim and Bo Barret. The parties agreed not to disclose the purchase price. Since the 2008 vintage, Bo Barrett, Greg Ralston, the cellar master of Cos d'Estournel Dominique Arangoits, and Jean-Guillaume Prats, managing director of Cos d'Estournel , have been running the day-to-day business.
Individual evidence
- ↑ Chateau Montelena sold to French wine firm , article by L. Pierce Carson in the Napa Valley Register
- ↑ Cos d'Estournel buys Chateau Montelena , article by Oliver Styles in Decanter .com
Web links
Coordinates: 38 ° 36 ′ 14 " N , 122 ° 35 ′ 52" W.