Chateau Montelena’s House Party Five, was the last event on our January, 2016 adventure to California wine country. Upon arrival at the winery, we were guided towards the entrance to the wine cellar. The cellar exterior was decorated with flood lights and a tent with transparent sides was erected next to the building.
The tent interior was set up with food serving stations and stand up dining tables. Along one wall, a variety of Chateau Montelena’s current wine offerings were being served. The 6 of us began the evening eating and drinking in the food tent, before adjourning to a fire pit set up outside. We sat under a cloudless California sky filled with stars and enjoyed some quiet conversation, while the warmth of the fire dulled the chill from the cool January evening. Unfortunately, after a few glasses of wine, “quiet conversation” is a relative term.
After relaxing a while, we made our way to the cellar: a cavernous room filled with large stainless steel tanks and walls lined with racks of wine barrels. Set up in the back of the cellar was a photo booth stocked with props. When it was our turn, we donned our props for a group picture.
A stairway in the back of the cellar led up to the Chateau’s public tasting room, library and estate room. The estate room is long and narrow with a bar at one end and several other portable serving stations scattered about. We received cards, which entitled us to a limited number of samples of Chateau Montelena’s older, more exclusive wines. The estate room was packed wall to wall with partiers. You had to literally belly up to the bar to get a sample, but belly up, we did. The wine samples were excellent. Or was it the fact that we already had a number of glasses of wine earlier and anything would have tasted good? Regardless, we did our fair share of sampling!
Mounted on one wall of the estate room was a large screen TV with a closed circuit feed from the cellar area near the large stainless steel tanks. Between tastings, we watched a band set up and a few couples started dancing. By the time we reached our tastings limits, the dance area was packed. The band was quite good and the crowd was really into their music. There were all types from the stiff dancers who only danced after they’d had a few drinks, to the couples who are probably professional dancers from San Francisco or Los Angeles. Quite entertaining, as you can see!
After some dancing, dessert and more wine, we packed it in after a very enjoyable evening, and looked forward to House Party Six! By the way, we enjoyed the Chardonnays from both wineries immensely and would purchase either one. In fact, we bought a chardonnay-loving friend a bottle of Chateau Montelena’s 2010 vintage as a gift.
When I recall the impressive size and shine on the stainless tanks in the wine cellar, it reminds me of the 18 kt white gold and shimmering diamond crown of our Diamond Cocktail Ring in 18 KT Yellow and White Gold!