2007 Montes Alpha Carménère
2007 Montes Alpha Carménère
Remember the Wine of Chile online tasting post I did months ago? No, well, just click here if you missed out on that one. It wasn’t too long after that that I received some free samples (and an offer that I responded to, but somehow lost touch with that person…who was my old WSET teacher…if you are reading this Ophelia, please email me…back on track) of Montes wines, courtesy of their PR firm, Cornerstone Communications. I’ve already reviewed one of the wines, the ὑπέρ-expensive and equally delicious Folly, their premier Syrah. This is the second of three samples (i.e. I didn’t pay for this wine) and not to spoil it, but one of the most surprisingly delicious wines I’ve had in quite a while.
We were having dinner that night with a friend, someone who we have over every once in a while because he doesn’t have a grill. I’d actually wanted buffalo, so I was having that instead of the cow. Don’t get me wrong, I love me some charred dead moo moo, but the tatonka just seemed to be more appealing that day at the grocery store.
This wine was decanted for a few hours and served in Riedel Pinot glasses because that is the only thing (besides flutes of course) that we have more than two of. The nose was gorgeous, with copious amounts of rich, ripened black fruits that were obviously from somewhere besides California. Imagine crushed blackberries and plums sitting inside an old whiskey barrel, with some black and green peppercorns thrown in for spice. In the mouth, it was dense, but no indication of being blowsy or out of balance. There were moderate tannins and nice acid, providing a strong core that should allow this wine (if you can wait) to age quite nicely. A heavenly mix of blackberry, espresso and peppery spice were superb and the only bad thing was having just the one bottle. Someone once told me that wine was the final sauce for food and this wine is a perfect example of that sentiment. Easily worth the money (around $27 – 30 I think) and a good, not great, value. For those of you who stick to Cabernet sauvignon or clarets for steak, do yourself a favor and pick up a bottle of this. Outstanding.
Haiku
Carménère grape
Whiskey barrel spicy fruit
Bring on tatonka
Cheers and have a happy Saturday!
