WTN: Very short notes from Montes tasting plus Vixen red sparkler

Montes Limited Selection Sauvignon Blanc 2006 - Grassy nose. None of the usual ripe guava I find in a lot of New World SB. Sweet entry in the mouth then you hit a wall of acid which I find makes the wine unbalanced. Maybe better with food. I didn't like this.

Montes Cherub Rose 2005 - Light, strawberry and raspberry flavors. A decent rose useful for quaffing.

Montes Limited Selection Cabernet Sauvignon/Carmenere 2005 - Smoky nose. Dark berries. Dry and an ashy character in the finish. Despite that, a solid wine that I would not turn down if offered.

Montes Purple Angel Carmenere 2004 - A huge, heavy bottle. Very dark. Lots of fruit and sweet berry on the nose. Blackberries. A dense, heavy wine. Young and you can sense there's more in this wine that wants to come out. It just needs time. Already lots of flavor and good to drink now but should really be kept a bit longer. Long finish. Very good.

Fox Creek Vixen McLaren Vale NV - At first I thought a sparkling Shiraz but the back label says Shiraz, Cabernet Sauvignon and Cabernet Franc. Vivid dark purple. Drier than the usual run of the mill sparkling Shiraz. Nose and flavors of tobacco, mocha and cocoa. Sparkling reds are an acquired taste so while I can see many people may find this too strange, I thought it was pretty good.

Jay, the Purple Angel label has just showed up here in AB.
Montes, btw, has been involved in Argentina too. Just opened a terrific Malbec, the Kaiken label. One to look out for!!!

[Jenise]

Jay, I've had Vixens a couple times over the years (it always seems to be availble in the places I've lived, and I kinda like the sparkling shiraz concept), but you can put me in the "don't get it" group for Vixen because no two have ever been alike. Some were balanced and interesting and others were inky black, massively extracted and hard as nails. It's as if they just throw some CO2 into whatever wasn't good enough to use somewhere else, and call it Vixen. Sounds like you had one of the better bottlings.

Montes, btw, has been involved in Argentina too. Just opened a terrific Malbec, the Kaiken label. One to look out for!!!

Yes I'm familiar with the Kaiken Malbec and Cab. The regular Kaikens were quite good and already approachable. I was real excited to try the Malbec Ultra but found it way too closed, massive and concentrated to be enjoyable. It looks like a serious wine that needs long term aging. I hope to be able to try one with about 5 years on it and see what aging does.

Jenise,

This was my first Vixen and I was really intrigued by the unusual mix of grapes and I'm a sucker for sparkling reds. So this label is a crapshoot but the importer is a friend so hopefully I'll also get to try future releases for free before deciding to buy.

The Vixen is, IMO, top-notch compared to most Aussie red-sparklers (if that says anything). I like it better after a half-hour in glass. The decompression helps push up the fruit and earth.

Thanks for the Vixen notes! We just put a few bottles out on the shelf yesterday. Customer ordered a case, changed his mind and took six, so we're going to try our luck with the other six.

I will testify to the label's variability: I tasted some in Melbourne a few years back, and it was sweet enough to pass for a dolce lambrusco.