⌛️History happened, it shouldn’t be erased. I enjoyed contributing forty years of my life to a family wine business. I’ve recently moved on to chart new winemaking adventures, but the memories pop up, and some of them were great.

🗓️ We hosted a major national retail account on this day two years ago, and did a deep dive library tasting going back forty years in five yeat increments. It was an incredible exploration through a forty year library of winemaking, which I was proud to contribute to.

🥾I’m charting new winemaking paths with my wife, kids and some family … but still fun to reflect on the memories when they pop up in my feed … I continue looking forward, and moving forward!

ORIGINAL POST | January 21, 2023

MONTICELLO | Napa Valley
S54 E1 | Library Sessions

🏪 We recently hosted one of our major national retail accounts at the winery. With such a great audience of knowledgable wine aficionados in the house, this was a terrific opportunity to work our way back through the deep MONTICELLO Library!

📆 We went back forty years, in five year increments … 2013, 2008, 2003, 1998, 1993, 1988, 1983 … With our trusty ah-so, every single cork came out intact and in good shape. The decanter got a good workout as well!

✍️ The tasting notes are too long to share here, but I’ll share that all of the wines were in great shape … and the graceful ageability of our MONTICELLO wines was evident and on full display. All of the wines were alive and vibrant, with characteristic fruit and age-appropriate tertiary tones.

🗺️ This was not just time traveling, but an exploration of Napa Valley (and beyond) as well. We tasted wines from throughout the sub-appellations that we’ve made wine from over the last 5 decades!

🍷2013. MONTICELLO ‘Corley’ Cabernet Sauvignon ‘Yewell Vineyard’ St. Helena.

🍷2008. MONTICELLO ‘Corley’ Cabernet Sauvignon ‘Tietjen Vineyard’ Rutherford.

🍷2003. MONTICELLO ‘Corley’ Cabernet Sauvignon ‘Reserve’ Napa Valley.

🍷1998. MONTICELLO Cabernet Sauvignon ‘Jefferson Cuvee’ Napa Valley.

🍷1993. MONTICELLO Merlot ‘Estate’ Oak Knoll District of Napa Valley.

🍷1988. HOSPICE DE BEAUNE. Red Burgundy. Volnay-Santenots. (This was an auction lot our dad purchased more than 30 years ago at Hospice de Beaune. Specially bottled for MONTICELLO).

🍷1983. MONTICELLO ‘Corley Reserve’ Cabernet Sauvignon ‘Reserve’.