2.29.2008

Montes Sauvignon Blanc '06

Country: Chile
Thoughts: It may be a little hard to tell on that small pic, but the top right portion of the label has a drawing of three gold medals for, in order from top to bottom: Aurelio Montes, Wine Personality of the Year, 2002 (from the Chilean Agricultural Society); Montes, Winery of the Year, 2002 (from Wine & Spirits); Montes, New World Winery of the Year, 2002 (from Wine Enthusiast). Apparently an awful lot can happen in four years. This wine got off on the wrong foot; to say it never recovered would be inaccurate - instead, it simply dug itself a deeper hole. The bouquet can be described in one word: Hank. As in Hank the cat, who just came meandering into the room as if on cue. Hank and a handful of coffee. You know, that whole cat piss thing - except Hank's litterbox smells a tad more attractive. I know that's a hazard of dealing with sauvignon blanc; but most other wines I've had managed to keep it in proportion. This did not. The exact line from my notes: "Bouquet: HANK. Dammit this had better taste good." Again, fail; miserable, excruciating failure. The taste was bitter and astringent, such that the next line of my notes read: "Finish: Who cares?" The last line of notes - saved for other comments - read thusly: "All the acidity of OJ w/ a back taste of, well, pine needles. WTF were all those medals for? BAIL" With my wife in agreement, we fed the remainder of the full bottle to the Alexandria Department of Public Works, though the Department of Risk Management may have been better equipped to deal with this monstrosity.
Do-over? Are you outta your damn mind?
Final Grade: F

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