Chateau Montelena's rich history began on a chilly fall morning when Alfred L. Tubbs spaded over and inspected the soil where he thought of planting estate vineyards. He'd heard the Napa Valley was the best place in California to grow grapes.

 

In January 1882, he reached a deal and the San Francisco entrepreneur became the proud owner of 254 rugged acres at the base of Mount Saint Helena, a scant two miles north of the town of Calistoga. The property offers loose, stony, well-drained soil that is perfect for the vineyards he hoped to cultivate.

In less than a decade he had turned his dream into reality. First Tubbs planted his vineyards, then he built his Chateau, and in 1886 he imported a French-born winemaker. By 1896 the winery he dubbed Chateau Montelena, was the seventh largest in the Napa Valley.

Prohibition brought an end to winemaking at the Chateau.

In the years after prohibition, the Tubbs family continued to harvest the vineyard and even made some wines, but they sold the grapes to other wineries before selling the winery in 1958 to Yort and Jeanie Frank, who were looking for a peaceful spot to retire.

The Chateau inspired Frank to excavate a lake with grounds landscaped to reflect the Chinese gardens of his homeland. Today, Jade Lake is considered one of Napa Valley's most beautiful natural sanctuaries, home to a variety of fish and wildlife, and ringed by weeping willows and native fauna.

Under the leadership of James Barrett, the vineyard was cleared and replanted, and the Chateau outfitted with modern winemaking equipment. Barrett assembled a team to manage the vineyard and winemaking. He grew and contracted for the highest-quality grapes in the Napa Valley. In 1972 the new Chateau Montelena wines made for the first time.

The 1976 Paris Tasting

In 1976 Chateau Montelena rocketed to the top of the wine world, pulling with it California’s winemaking reputation. That year a who's-who of the French wine and food establishment gathered for a grand wine tasting at the Inter-Continental Hotel in Paris.

Six California Chardonnays faced off against a collection of four impressive French White Burgundies that included the 1973 Meursault-Charmes Burgundy that had been lauded as one of history’s truly great white Burgundies.

The judging panel was made up of nine top French wine experts, including famous culinary writers and the secretary general of the esteemed French wine organization the Association des Grands Crus Classes.

When the results were tallied, the ’73 Mersault-Charmes had been forced to settle for 2nd place behind the now legendary 1973 Chateau Montelena Chardonnay.

Chateau Montelena 2005 Napa Valley Chardonnay

The 2005 Vintage was excellent for ripening weather, crop yield and juice quality resulting in ideal conditions for flavor and fruit chemistry development. In fact, for the entire season we enjoyed a very mild and overall good weather pattern. In the end it was a fun, smooth running and all-around great harvest where everything just clicked.