Crafting tours since 1999
Chateau Montelena is the winery whose 1973 Chardonnay won the 1976 Judgment of Paris, a blind tasting that upended centuries of assumption about where great wine came from. That result sparked the American wine revolution and later inspired the 2008 film Bottle Shock. A handful of bottles from that vintage survive, and one is held in the permanent collection of the Smithsonian.
The estate was established in 1882 in Calistoga, and the current house philosophy is to question everything, convention and past method alike. Chardonnay remains the signature. Michael scores ambiance and wine at 8 each, with staff at 6. Visits are by appointment at 1429 Tubbs Lane. If you are building a northern Napa tour with any historical weight to it, this is the stop that carries it.
