2001 Montes Cabernet Sauvignon "Reserve"

[Drew]

Really nice, inexpensive Cab from Chile. Very dark in the glass but not opaque. Nose of crushed dark berry and deep plum. Like flavors with a hint of vanilla and cinnamon. Nice body and balance and is moderately rich. It's labled Oak Aged but is no Oak Monster by any means. Also marked "Reserve" but I don't think that means anythin. Nice food wine,imho.
13.5% Alc/vol. $9.99.

Drew

[Innkeeper]

We have a bottle down in son-in-law's basement. Sounds like one to pop on our next burger day.

[jmcginley1]

They also make a Cabernet/Carmenère blend that, in my opinion, blows their "reserve" cab away. It is 70% cab, 30% Carmenère.

[KuhNayJun]

Found a bottle of the Cab/Carmenere. Any suggestions with regards to food pairing for this one jmc? OR anyone else familiar with this one........:-)

[This message has been edited by KuhNayJun (edited 07-16-2005).]

[Innkeeper]

Popped an '02 last night. This bottling had all the garbage on the label that Drew mentioned plus Colchague Valley designation. My former pusher pushed this with a $14 price tag (a check with wine-searcher reveals this is not too bad, Drew got a good deal). I glug gluged it into a decanter and tasted it before dinner. It seemed soft and flabby but with somewhat harsh tannin. It became more acceptable when accompanied by greasy burgers lathered with ketchup.

[Drew]

Here's a rating for the 2002 Chile vintage and I found where Wine Enthusiast rated the vintage an 86.

Rating: 7/10 - drink or keep

The weather was ideal for grapes right through to the end of summer and early autumn. At this time the rain arrived and caused a lot of dilution problems for growers in the Rapel, Maule and Curicó Valleys. The growers had to choose - do they pick before rot sets in or wait to allow the grapes to ripen. For those that waited the rains did desist and afterwards there was hot, sunny weather and these growers managed to produce some good wines, although they had to be extremely selective when picking.

The other regions fared better and made good wines. Aconcagua Valley missed out on the perverse weather and experienced a normal season and the wines are of very good quality. The Casablanca and Maipo Valleys saw less morning fog than usual and so ripening was faster in these regions which meant they could pick before any serious rot set in.

Drew

[This message has been edited by Drew (edited 09-15-2005).]