Wine Review - 2013 Mount Monster Cabernet Sauvignon: Tangy Red Wine That Sticks To The Tongue

This wine was on the roster for Mer et Soleil at this year's Port of Wines Festival and we had a chance to try it both freshly opened and with a little time open.  Overall, it was a nice drinking wine but definitely develops more when the bottle is open for a while.  We would go as far to say it is better to decant this wine to open it up a bit.

Bright crimson is the best was to categorize the look and colour of the wine.  There are slow legs in the glass on the swirl and it seems to stick to the sides as the wine comes down.  It has an oily look to it as well which make you feel like this will be a big wine.

The nose hit us with cherry blossoms and violets as the dominant building blocks of the bouquet.  We also see light oak and vanilla notes underlying all of that.  It's a solid nose on this wine.

The oily nature of the wine in the glass continues on the palate. It sticks to the tongue quite readily.  This comes with blackberries on the start and it actually finishes with more of a black cherries flavour.  Very interesting.  Our challenge with this wine are the rougher tannins on the mid-palate which provides an slightly bitter finish.  Where we would love to see more silky tannins, we get a more acidic tasting experience.

	Tasting Notes:	Score:
Sight (0-5)	Bright crimson colour and oily look make this seem like it will be a big wine.	4.5
Smell (0-5)	Cherry blossoms and violets dominate with oak and vanilla undertones.	4.0
Taste (0-10)	The wine is oily on the tongue with blackberries to ‎start and black cherries on the finish. Rougher tannins on the mid-palate and finishes a touch bitter.	7.75
	Total:	16.25 / 20 (81.25%)

We like this wine and at just under $20 it is priced about right.  We like how this wine tasted and it is pretty good with and without food.  Again, if you leave it open for a while you will like it that much more.  So, open it an hour before dinner as opposed to when the food hits the table.

Keep on tasting!

Chris & Shannon