Hard To Get To Know
Rating: Great if you're into green vegetal spices instead of Cabernet flavor. But eating a celery stick is cheaper. Better with food, but hard to warm up to. $20-25
The Rest Of The Story: Last month we reviewed this wine's sibling, the 2007 Montes Alpha Syrah - a great wine deserving of its four star rating. So this was a wine we were pretty excited to try - and share....
But bringing it to a friends for a pot roast dinner didn't feel that great.
'Cause this wine's a dud.
The less expensive Cabernet from Montes' Classic line was a bargain to buy by the case, so we figured this wine was going to be a blockbuster. Not.
Dark and serious looking in the glass, it's light on the nose with some muted Cab notes. The flavors are tough to get to through the taut tannins that haven't yet begun to smooth out. Then the green hits you - pepper, celery, and even eucalyptus. Gave it hours to breathe and it was still hard to get to know this wine. Improved with food, but not to the point of noteworthiness.
Get the Syrah instead.
We paid $14.99 on sale, but have seen it for more like $23.
Rating: Great if you're into green vegetal spices instead of Cabernet flavor. But eating a celery stick is cheaper. Better with food, but hard to warm up to. $20-25
The Rest Of The Story: Last month we reviewed this wine's sibling, the 2007 Montes Alpha Syrah - a great wine deserving of its four star rating. So this was a wine we were pretty excited to try - and share....
But bringing it to a friends for a pot roast dinner didn't feel that great.
The less expensive Cabernet from Montes' Classic line was a bargain to buy by the case, so we figured this wine was going to be a blockbuster. Not.
Dark and serious looking in the glass, it's light on the nose with some muted Cab notes. The flavors are tough to get to through the taut tannins that haven't yet begun to smooth out. Then the green hits you - pepper, celery, and even eucalyptus. Gave it hours to breathe and it was still hard to get to know this wine. Improved with food, but not to the point of noteworthiness.
Get the Syrah instead.
We paid $14.99 on sale, but have seen it for more like $23.