10 years old and drinking beautifully. Crystalline sweet red fruit carried by dusty tannins. This is crazy value Drink or hold for a couple of years - who knows how long this could last???
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Was happy to open this 2013 Cabernet Sauvignon that I had been saving for 3 years in my cellar. I left the wine uncorked & exposed to air for about an hour before being served & when poured a dark ruby red colour showed itself along with a red hue when swirled in the glass with very slow legs. To the nose this wine provided deep dark fruit notes along with spice & tobacco. To the mouth a big dark fruit taste jumped out of the glass along with hints of pepper that provided an extremely smooth finish with little to no tannins. A very enjoyable Cabernet Sauvignon that I would recommend.
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Badly corked. Atomic Liquors bought inventory from an old Cellars in Eagan their storage is vertical under the lights which would not cause a corked bottle but certainly get the oxidized wines flowing quicker.
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Surprisingly smooth and easy drinking. Somewhat linear and not too complex but pleasing. Typical Cab with significantly less of the green notes you get so often from South American CS. Noticeable tart finish from tannins which still need to soften a little bit. Will check again in 1-2 years.
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Rant Alert! Normally I wouldn't review a wine that I gave such a low score to but I sense that there is an alarming trend in Chilean Cab Savs towards vegetal/bell pepper/capsicum overtones. I realize that Cab Sav has this naturally but lately I've been finding it overwhelming in Chilean Cab Savs -especially this one. I theorize it's caused by picking the grapes too early or having too much leaf cover. There was a period of austerity in Australia in the 1980s when Cab Savs had this vegetal characteristic - very elegant they said, lip-puckeringly, stingily elegant. Chile, you don't have to go through this - pick the damn grapes when they're ripe! OK people have different tastes. I'm just saying that the Emperor's New Clothes suck and just because there are some Cab Savs out there that are overripe there is no need for this overreaction. There is a very good wine in there somewhere, it just tastes like it had a layer of crushed eucalyptus leaves added during fermentation. A good pairing with eucalyptus candy.
Dense, inky and still very youthful, purple-reddish color. Very intense and powerful but also really straightforward nose with very simple aromas of blackcurrant juice concentrate, jammy dark berries and some herbaceous currant leaf tones. The wine is medium-to-moderately full-bodied, soft and quite hot on the palate with very sweet-toned and rather overripe flavors of pronounced crème de cassis character, jammy dark fruits, some overripe blackcurrant tones and a little bit of leafy green character. The structure relies mostly on the firm and moderately grippy tannins as the acidity department feels almost nonexistent. The finish is short, gloopy and very dull with jammy, spoofy flavors of cassis liqueur, overripe blackcurrant, some mocha oak and a hint of minty Cab character.
A very simple, jammy and uninteresting blackcurrant bomb with no depth, character or complexity. Despite its tannic backbone, the wine feels like it is lacking in structure badly. Heavily overpriced for its quality at 17,31€ - this tastes something like very spoofy plonk wine that is just manipulated to taste bigger and more expensive. Avoid.
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After two nights this has a ton of coffee on the nose, with some dusty berry beneath that. Structured, with firm tannins, and lots of dark berry fruit. Good acidity. Plenty of life left and no rush to drink.
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Smoky plum, black fruits, green pepper, tobacco, tastes like some whole cluster inclusion. Rich and brooding, but with the tannins to balance it well. Great QPR for $17. Time will help this one, but why wait? Drink or hold.
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Another bottle drank. Having tried other Cabs from Chile I am finding this to be less fresh and fruity. Still a solid option for the price however I see now there are other Cabs on the market for the same price however a different style.
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You know, it kinda hits a sweet spot. Its got enough upfront fruit to truly appeal to everyone but then has structure, some savory notes, a touch of herb, and works it out at $18.
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It's got a touch of the green but its pretty. And some back tannin there so I bet the combination of the two will turn into violets and pretty fruit in 2 years.
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Popped and poured. Blackberry, currant, smoke, chocolate, tobacco and espresso. All integrated on the palate with ripe tannins. Leads to a medium to long finish. Full bodied. Served with beef stew.
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Quand je pense au Chili, je pense immédiatement une puissance mystérieuse provenant de milliers d'années de symboles énigmatiques. Que ce soit le cap Horn avec ses tourments démentiels ou l'ile de Paques avec ses statues inexpliquées, ce pays sait nous impressionner. Comme avec son vin méconnu, mais d'un potentiel formidable. Comme ce cabernet-sauvignon qui saura laisser sa marque dans votre esprit par son caractère bien typique. Encore!
The wine that made everything possible. Smells just a touch of that green from Chile, with a good structure and yes, some tension as well. And with a harder edged (in a good way) finish. For $15 to $18 thats a pretty rocking wine. 50% new oak. And dry farmed. Which apparently is very important in Chile because they are running out of water. The first five years the plants didn't die but they didn't produce any berries. By the fourth harvest they had 67% less yield and 40% smaller berries but this is what this comes from.
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Popped and poured. Aromatic nose of lilac, blackberry, currant, chocolate, toffee and a hint of road tar. Palate mirrors the nose with ripe, fleshy tannins. Medium to long finish. Full bodied. A very good QPR.
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Complex and perplexing. Initial nose wood, rubber, resin - not entirely pleasant but much improved with aeration to expose black cherry and vanilla. Medium body, great mouth feel and spice, though long in tannin and leaves a lingering acidity. Would pair well with spicy or big flavor dishes.
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Opened, let it breathe for 40 min. and drank. Very nice intense ruby. Medium bodied. Expressive nose of black currant, raspberry, just a little hint of capsicum and oak. Very clean palate of sweet black currant, pencil shavings, well controlled vanilla, oak and menthol. Unexpectedly long finish. Drinking well now.
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Dense, inky and quite opaque purple color witha slightly translucent cherry red rim. Very intense and quite straightforward nose with dense aromas of blackcurrants, plum jam, some toffee oak, a little bit of toasty wood and herbaceous hints of currant leaves. The wine is moderately full-bodied, soft and quite hot on the palate with dense and rather overripe flavors of pronounced crème de cassis character, jammy dark fruits, some licorice tones, a little bit of extracted woody bitterness, a hint of toffee oak and a leafy touch of herbaceous, green character. The structure relies mostly on the firm and moderately grippy tannins as the acidity department feels quite mdoest. The finish is quite long and somewhat oaky with with ripe flavors of cassis liqueur, blackcurrant marmalade, some mocha oak , a little bit of savory wood spice and a hint of herbal minty character.
A dense, ripe and oaky Cabernet Sauvignon with a lot of extract. Feels somewhat balanced, but nothing that'd be particularly interesting or memorable. I'd love to see whether the wine will lose its baby fat with age or just fall apart - however, I wouldn't put any of my money into a gloopy, spoofy wine like this. Not really recommended.
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I know previous reviewers have described the flavors and aromas as pencil and graphite....i get that but my nose and palate detected petrol and rubber. In any case I attribute this to terroir which is a good thing. Medium bodied with juicy dark red fruit, good acid to match.
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very bright colour Dark dark fruit on the nose, some spice, pencil shavings and just a hint of mint Medium body, fresh, savoury with ripe tannins HInt of vanilla and caramel Lovely balance. Excellent mainstream cabernet that chile does so well. £12.99 retails. Very good value
1/29/2023 - prelypchan wrote: 92 Points
10 years old and drinking beautifully. Crystalline sweet red fruit carried by dusty tannins. This is crazy value Drink or hold for a couple of years - who knows how long this could last???
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2/5/2022 - Schönibert wrote: 89 Points
Schwarze Johannisbeere, Holz top eingebunden, super Wein, steht gut da.
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1/17/2021 - vinelouse wrote: 90 Points
Probably at its peak now. With proper aging this actually turned out quiet nice. Will keep experimenting.
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4/18/2020 - Schönibert wrote:
Hat noch viel Zeit, sehr karg aber trotzdem angenehm, etwas left bank ist hier drin aber viel Alkohol.
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12/25/2019 - Kevin Staveley Likes this wine: 91 Points
Was happy to open this 2013 Cabernet Sauvignon that I had been saving for 3 years in my cellar. I left the wine uncorked & exposed to air for about an hour before being served & when poured a dark ruby red colour showed itself along with a red hue when swirled in the glass with very slow legs. To the nose this wine provided deep dark fruit notes along with spice & tobacco. To the mouth a big dark fruit taste jumped out of the glass along with hints of pepper that provided an extremely smooth finish with little to no tannins. A very enjoyable Cabernet Sauvignon that I would recommend.
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8/18/2019 - drlang946 Likes this wine: 88 Points
A bit on the smooth sweet side heavy with ripe dark fruits
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5/10/2019 - F_&_M Likes this wine: 88 Points
Very good.
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3/27/2019 - 3daywinereview.com wrote: flawed
Badly corked. Atomic Liquors bought inventory from an old Cellars in Eagan their storage is vertical under the lights which would not cause a corked bottle but certainly get the oxidized wines flowing quicker.
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7/17/2018 - vinelouse wrote: 90 Points
Surprisingly smooth and easy drinking. Somewhat linear and not too complex but pleasing. Typical Cab with significantly less of the green notes you get so often from South American CS. Noticeable tart finish from tannins which still need to soften a little bit. Will check again in 1-2 years.
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7/13/2018 - Monsieur le Comte wrote: 92 Points
ripe and full, good qpr
90-92
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6/19/2018 - tenorselbow wrote: 80 Points
Rant Alert!
Normally I wouldn't review a wine that I gave such a low score to but I sense that there is an alarming trend in Chilean Cab Savs towards vegetal/bell pepper/capsicum overtones. I realize that Cab Sav has this naturally but lately I've been finding it overwhelming in Chilean Cab Savs -especially this one. I theorize it's caused by picking the grapes too early or having too much leaf cover.
There was a period of austerity in Australia in the 1980s when Cab Savs had this vegetal characteristic - very elegant they said, lip-puckeringly, stingily elegant. Chile, you don't have to go through this - pick the damn grapes when they're ripe!
OK people have different tastes. I'm just saying that the Emperor's New Clothes suck and just because there are some Cab Savs out there that are overripe there is no need for this overreaction.
There is a very good wine in there somewhere, it just tastes like it had a layer of crushed eucalyptus leaves added during fermentation.
A good pairing with eucalyptus candy.
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1/20/2018 - forceberry wrote: 72 Points
Tasted blind in VV.
Dense, inky and still very youthful, purple-reddish color. Very intense and powerful but also really straightforward nose with very simple aromas of blackcurrant juice concentrate, jammy dark berries and some herbaceous currant leaf tones. The wine is medium-to-moderately full-bodied, soft and quite hot on the palate with very sweet-toned and rather overripe flavors of pronounced crème de cassis character, jammy dark fruits, some overripe blackcurrant tones and a little bit of leafy green character. The structure relies mostly on the firm and moderately grippy tannins as the acidity department feels almost nonexistent. The finish is short, gloopy and very dull with jammy, spoofy flavors of cassis liqueur, overripe blackcurrant, some mocha oak and a hint of minty Cab character.
A very simple, jammy and uninteresting blackcurrant bomb with no depth, character or complexity. Despite its tannic backbone, the wine feels like it is lacking in structure badly. Heavily overpriced for its quality at 17,31€ - this tastes something like very spoofy plonk wine that is just manipulated to taste bigger and more expensive. Avoid.
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11/17/2017 - Fbstracker wrote: flawed
Corked!
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8/15/2017 - valecnik Likes this wine: 88 Points
After two nights this has a ton of coffee on the nose, with some dusty berry beneath that. Structured, with firm tannins, and lots of dark berry fruit. Good acidity. Plenty of life left and no rush to drink.
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8/7/2017 - vinhonotte Likes this wine: 89 Points
WSET Level 3 Award for Wine Course; 8/7/2017-8/11/2017 (West London Wine School): deep ruby, with a good amount of black fruits, leafy, and char; more or less expected from a hot southern cab, big and robust
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8/2/2017 - bwilson13 Likes this wine: 89 Points
Very nice little cab--especially for the price point ($15)
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7/13/2017 - mzmijewski Likes this wine: 90 Points
Fruit and tobacco on nose and palate. Rich red color. Smooth tannins with long acidic finish
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6/13/2017 - Mootsie Likes this wine: 92 Points
Smoky plum, black fruits, green pepper, tobacco, tastes like some whole cluster inclusion. Rich and brooding, but with the tannins to balance it well. Great QPR for $17. Time will help this one, but why wait? Drink or hold.
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5/31/2017 - Alexander Smith Likes this wine: 90 Points
Another bottle drank. Having tried other Cabs from Chile I am finding this to be less fresh and fruity. Still a solid option for the price however I see now there are other Cabs on the market for the same price however a different style.
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5/20/2017 - Ben Christiansen wrote:
You know, it kinda hits a sweet spot. Its got enough upfront fruit to truly appeal to everyone but then has structure, some savory notes, a touch of herb, and works it out at $18.
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5/13/2017 - tadams66 Likes this wine: 89 Points
Very good value.
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4/24/2017 - nowine4u Likes this wine: 90 Points
Only good things going forward with this wine. Very enjoyable..
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4/19/2017 - Ben Christiansen wrote:
It's got a touch of the green but its pretty. And some back tannin there so I bet the combination of the two will turn into violets and pretty fruit in 2 years.
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4/9/2017 - Tim and Bonnie Likes this wine: 87 Points
Great little cab.
Sidebar: Had a La Aroma de Cuba cigar and didn't care too much for it, but this wine pairs with it very nicely.
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3/27/2017 - hoservin wrote: 89 Points
Popped and poured. Blackberry, currant, smoke, chocolate, tobacco and espresso. All integrated on the palate with ripe tannins. Leads to a medium to long finish. Full bodied. Served with beef stew.
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3/25/2017 - Drinker Diary Likes this wine: 89 Points
Cabernet Sauvignon
Montes Alpha
Chili - Valle Central - Valle de Colchagua
Cabernet-sauvignon: 90% - Merlot: 10%
Millésime: 2013
Prix: 23$
Alcool: 14.0%
Sucre: 3.5g
Boire: 2017 - 2018
Servir: 16°C – 17°C
Accords: Charcuteries
SAQ
Quand je pense au Chili, je pense immédiatement une puissance mystérieuse provenant de milliers d'années de symboles énigmatiques. Que ce soit le cap Horn avec ses tourments démentiels ou l'ile de Paques avec ses statues inexpliquées, ce pays sait nous impressionner. Comme avec son vin méconnu, mais d'un potentiel formidable. Comme ce cabernet-sauvignon qui saura laisser sa marque dans votre esprit par son caractère bien typique. Encore!
Nez: Prunes - Olives - Fruits rouges - Bois
Bouche: Chocolat - Cassis - Café - Fruits
Dégusté le 25 mars 2017
https://www.encoreenboisson.com/single-post/2017/03/27/Montes-Alpha-Cabernet---89pts
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2/23/2017 - Ben Christiansen wrote:
The wine that made everything possible. Smells just a touch of that green from Chile, with a good structure and yes, some tension as well. And with a harder edged (in a good way) finish. For $15 to $18 thats a pretty rocking wine. 50% new oak. And dry farmed. Which apparently is very important in Chile because they are running out of water. The first five years the plants didn't die but they didn't produce any berries. By the fourth harvest they had 67% less yield and 40% smaller berries but this is what this comes from.
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2/8/2017 - hoservin wrote: 90 Points
Popped and poured. Aromatic nose of lilac, blackberry, currant, chocolate, toffee and a hint of road tar. Palate mirrors the nose with ripe, fleshy tannins. Medium to long finish. Full bodied. A very good QPR.
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1/25/2017 - A2BigRed Likes this wine: 87 Points
Complex and perplexing. Initial nose wood, rubber, resin - not entirely pleasant but much improved with aeration to expose black cherry and vanilla. Medium body, great mouth feel and spice, though long in tannin and leaves a lingering acidity. Would pair well with spicy or big flavor dishes.
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12/2/2016 - Terence Pan wrote:
Dense purple.
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11/30/2016 - Alexander Smith Likes this wine: 91 Points
Medium body, palate of rubber and petrol. Nice finish, decant one hour prior. Too lively for now, would wait 3-4 more years. Good potential
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11/20/2016 - fotomill Likes this wine: 89 Points
Opened, let it breathe for 40 min. and drank. Very nice intense ruby. Medium bodied. Expressive nose of black currant, raspberry, just a little hint of capsicum and oak. Very clean palate of sweet black currant, pencil shavings, well controlled vanilla, oak and menthol. Unexpectedly long finish. Drinking well now.
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9/22/2016 - forceberry wrote: 78 Points
Dense, inky and quite opaque purple color witha slightly translucent cherry red rim. Very intense and quite straightforward nose with dense aromas of blackcurrants, plum jam, some toffee oak, a little bit of toasty wood and herbaceous hints of currant leaves. The wine is moderately full-bodied, soft and quite hot on the palate with dense and rather overripe flavors of pronounced crème de cassis character, jammy dark fruits, some licorice tones, a little bit of extracted woody bitterness, a hint of toffee oak and a leafy touch of herbaceous, green character. The structure relies mostly on the firm and moderately grippy tannins as the acidity department feels quite mdoest. The finish is quite long and somewhat oaky with with ripe flavors of cassis liqueur, blackcurrant marmalade, some mocha oak , a little bit of savory wood spice and a hint of herbal minty character.
A dense, ripe and oaky Cabernet Sauvignon with a lot of extract. Feels somewhat balanced, but nothing that'd be particularly interesting or memorable. I'd love to see whether the wine will lose its baby fat with age or just fall apart - however, I wouldn't put any of my money into a gloopy, spoofy wine like this. Not really recommended.
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9/10/2016 - dmwfridge Likes this wine: 88 Points
Good value for money
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9/1/2016 - Big-DB Likes this wine: 90 Points
Very nice. Dry. Light in colour but big and bold in flavor. Earthy.
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8/31/2016 - wineotim wrote: 88 Points
I know previous reviewers have described the flavors and aromas as pencil and graphite....i get that but my nose and palate detected petrol and rubber. In any case I attribute this to terroir which is a good thing. Medium bodied with juicy dark red fruit, good acid to match.
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7/7/2016 - henrygjeffreys Likes this wine:
very bright colour
Dark dark fruit on the nose, some spice, pencil shavings and just a hint of mint
Medium body, fresh, savoury with ripe tannins
HInt of vanilla and caramel
Lovely balance. Excellent mainstream cabernet that chile does so well. £12.99 retails. Very good value
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2/25/2016 - jmcmchi wrote: 90 Points
Dry farmed
Graphite nose, firm, supple tannins with mid-ripe fruit; spicy tannins to finish
Beautiful
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