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TN: Chilean oakbomb, and a very good Strubborn Horse from CA

Thursday Betsy made some Indian-influenced lamb chops (a variation on a Mark Bittman recipe from this week's time, with some baked rice and salad. I sadly chose the

2002 Montes Alpha Syrah (Colchagua Valley, Chile). Who put oak in my blackberries? Who put blackberries in my oak? Bad combo with the food, but not a wine I'd like in any case. Sweet forward fruit, but some hard tannins and lots of vanilla/oak. Did I mention oak? The fruit is the redeeming factor (edit: day 2 the oak was better integrated, leaving a decent Oz Shiraz). Think Tardieu-Laurent. B-

No redemption neccessary for the 2001 Havens Bourriquot. Structured though fleshy, delicious but with promise. Spicy oak, but integrated with the rich dark fruit and herb aromas. Ripe tannins, moderate acidity, fantastic fruit. Give it few years to settle down. One of my favorite CA blends hits it out of the park this year, best vintage of this fave I've tasted. Good QPR for $33. A-

Grade disclaimer: I'm a very easy grader, basically A is an excellent wine, B a good wine, C mediocre. Anything below C means I wouldn't drink at a party where it was only choice. Furthermore, I offer no promises of objectivity, accuracy, and certainly not of consistency

Reply to
DaleW
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Quick "edits": Title should read "stubborn" (Bourriquot is a stubborn horse).

Havens was served with herby burgers.

Reply to
DaleW

That's a shame to hear, Dale. I've had previous vintages of the Montes Alpha, and they've been quite nice and not overly oaked. Have they brought in Michel Rolland or something? ;-)

Mark Lipton (itching to see Mondovino)

Reply to
Mark Lipton

Montes has always been known for putting a lot of oak in their wine, so it's not a surprise there. Especially in a weaker vintages as the 2002 was, the oak should be more prevalent.. Not my style either. The good news is the 2003 reduced the amount of oak in all the alpha range, and the fruit is much, much more upfront, better too. I tried a Cab, and I'm ordering a case.

I recommend you give the 2003 Montes Alpha Cabernet or Syrah a try.

-Indirecto

Reply to
Indirecto

I got Mum a bottle of the Montes desert wine (I can't remember which, but it cost me like ~$20AU) and she said she was dancing around 2 o'clock in the morning.

Thought they'd put something funny in it.

Mat.

Reply to
Mat

As far as I know, Montes makes only one late-harvest wine. And it costs around Ch$7,000, or about US$12.

Perhaps it was the good company...

-Indirecto

Reply to
Indirecto

That sounds like it.

She was by herself.

I think she thinks they put some marijuana or cocaine in it. Which would be funny if they did, but I doubt it.

It makes me wonder what would be in it that would make you go like that.

Reply to
Mat

Yeah, I reckon it's easy to figure that because we're South American we must deal with coke or pot... in one way or another.

-Indirecto

Reply to
Indirecto

I think you are getting offended over nothing.

I didn't mean to imply all south americans "deal with coke or pot". Nor did she. She was being comedic. Apparently humour is in short supply these days. There's an el nino of laughs going on over the Pacific. Global warming may be involved.

The fact is most of the world's cocaine does come from South America. Not that that means every single south american is involved. And we have our own pot here. And lots of it. If you believe the Balinese there's a thriving Australian export business.

So get over yourself please. I don't have a hissy everytime someone says didgeredo or says "By crikey" for about the billionth time. So just calm down please. Its like these days ppl are primed at the slightest hint...

O, and we do have a lot of south american expats who live here you know. Some of my best friends in high school were Chilean refugees.

Mat.

Reply to
Mat

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