This was my first time attending one of these tastings, and although I planned to make it a “social” event with a few people I know, they all bailed out because of the snow. Don’t worry Daphne, I’m not mad… there was more wine for me to try!
The bartender was very knowledgeable about his wines, despite his young age, though I think I had him beat 😉 Although the glasses were not the ideal tasting glasses, he did pour each wine in a separate glass.
The wines we tried were from Chile, the Montes vineyard. They had two price categories, the Chardonnay & Malbec fell in the $12-$15 range, and their Pinot Noir and Cabernet/Carmenere blend came in at $16-$19.
I think they were all decent wines, and seemed to hold up well. I was not impressed that the bottles were left over from last week’s tasting, however, I would not have really noticed, since there was not a whole lot of oxidation on any of them, except the Pinot Noir- which, may actually show better the first day it is opened. The rest of them benefitted from being opened early, which is a good sign of their “keep” potential.
I don’t think any of them were produced to age, but I wouldn’t be surprised if they tasted just as good 2 or 3 years down the road, the Cabernet in particular.
As far as the restaurant goes, the tasting room was a lounge/bar atmosphere with music and light “tasting food”, cheeses, hummus, bruchetta, etc.
Check out the Video below to see for yourself! Maybe I’ll see you at next month’s tasting…
