Paul K

9.2

8 hours open in bottle with a glass poured. Still very young, but great fruit and much promise! — 11 days ago

Ron Siegel

9.4

Classic Jamet showing a concentrated, complex nose of red & black cherry, berry fruit, smoked meat, black olive, pepper, savory spice, mineral, menthol & violets. This is still on the youthful side that should keep developing for many more years. — 5 days ago

Jay Kline

9.7

Of all the American red wines that participated in the Judgement of Paris, it could be argued that Monte Bello has shown the greatest propensity to age. In fact, I would go as far as it requires lengthy cellaring to extract its best. I’ve had the good fortune to drink a number of tremendous vintages of Monte Bello over the last several years and this one has got to be at or near the top of the lot.

Opened and poured into a decanter about an hour prior to service and enjoyed over the course of a few hours. The 1991 Monte Bello pours a deep ruby/purple color with an opaque core moving out towards a light ruby rim; medium+ viscosity with moderate staining of the tears and some signs of sediment. On the nose, the wine is developing (still!) with gorgeous notes of ripe and tart black currants, mixed bramble fruit, tobacco, some purple flowers, dill, mint, leather, earth, vanilla and associated baking spices. On the palate, the wine is dry with medium+ tannin and medium+ acid. The structure remains tremendous which again, seems to indicate youth. Confirming the notes from the nose. The finish is super long and immensely satisfying. This is one of those wines that will outlive most humans. Drinking well now with a short decant but this has the gas to see 2061 with ease. — 12 days ago

Scott E. Becker

9.2

[Tasted on January 18, 2024 at Luogo in Nashville with Jay]

Pomegranate, red currant and açaí fruit, with licorice. Nicely balanced. — 12 days ago

Ed Chin

9.2

One of those that you could enjoy in its youth or wait 10yrs. Good fruit with smooth tannins that had the grip of a much older wine. — 19 days ago

Jae Cho

9.1

In an awkward spot that suffers by comparison to an amazing mosel troken. Has much that’s delicious, but the taut, stony tertiary flavors are incipient not quite showy. — 17 days ago

Scott@Mister A’s-San Diego

9.4

1989 vintage. Opened but not decanted. Just got a (generous) side sample of this as I was entrenched with the weekly wine rep tastings. Tasted after 30 mins and one hour after opening. Definitely bretty (as expected) for the first tastes but that mostly dissipated by the end of the glass. Light-medium body with mostly bowed tannins initially. Longer it remained in the glass, the more the tannins came out to frolic. Still plenty of structure, fruit and front-palate intrigue (usually hidden/buried by tannins). Not improving at this point but-depending on storage and/or bottle size-still more than viable and deserving of massive respect. 01.29.25. — a day ago

Ed Anderson

9.2

A really nice fruit forward cab that I had with a New York strip steak. Really good combination. — 5 days ago

Ron Siegel

9.3

Pair of 21’s tonight where the Tignanello is youthful & not as open as the Ornellaia. Will be a great vintage that needs a few more years — 18 hours ago

Scott Kahn

9.5

Beautiful wine - one that has improved with age! Deep and rich color with a bouquet of cedar in the glass. Dark and plentiful fruit, integrated albeit present tannins, and a long finish. This is best Estournel that I have sampled! — 21 days ago