New Jersey Wine Restaurant and Shopping Guide - Monmouth County
Pier Village New Jersey- Pier Village is a top destination in Monmouth County for shopping, restaurants and oceanfront condominiums
Red Bank Restaurants - For a directory of all restaurants located in Red bank New Jersey, visit www.brianpasch.com.
Undici Restaurant - Undici Restaurant is located in Rumson New Jersey on River Road, serving Italian food.
Restaurant Nicholas - the best restaurant in New Jersey for five star gourmet dining. Reservations are recommended
at Restaurant Nicholas in Red Bank NJ.
Monmouth County Dining - find great restaurants in Monmouth County New Jersey on
www.brianpasch.com
Asbury Park Information - restaurants and retail shops in Asbury Park New Jersey.
Hall Winery California - visit the Hall Winery and experience great wines like the Diamond Mountain Cabernet.
Winery Scarecrow Cabernet - read the latest reviews
including the 2005 Scarecrow Cabernet; a new California cult wine.
NJ Internet Marketing - the best agency for Internet marketing and search engine optimization in New Jersey.
Infiniti Car Dealer NJ - Circle Infiniti is New Jersey's best Infiniti car dealer, located in Monmouth County NJ.
2004 Dalla Valle Cabernet - read the latest wine review of the 2004 Dalla Valley Winery cabernet by Brian Pasch.
Sickles Wine and Cheese Classic - buy tickets for the 2008 Wine and Cheese Classic to benefit Holiday Express
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Montes Alpha Chardonnay Steals the ShowHaving just returned from Ecuador and reflecting on the wines I drank on the trip, I decided to write about the great wines I tasted that were made in Chile. Montes Wines are becoming my go to favorite when traveling in Latin America where wine selection is often limited at restaurants and wine stores. From my visits to Columbia, Panama, and Ecuador wine selections from California, France and Italy are very limited. However, wines from Chile and Argentina are in ample supply and provided me an opportunity to expand my tasting experience with South American wines. I wrote about my experience with Montes Folly Syrah last year, a very special Syrah made by Montes and in very tight supply. Since then, I never had the chance to taste all the Montes Alpha wines until this occasion. Montes is a prolific winery making a number of wines and special Cuvees; at the top of their portfolio their wines approach the $100 a bottle mark. However, they have an affordable line of wines called "Montes Alpha" and on this trip I tasted:
The biggest surprise was the 2004 Montes Alpha Chardonnay which was selling in Ecuador for about $23 per bottle. I served the wine to over a dozen friends and the wine was universally loved. I though the wine had great flavors, balanced tannins and a clean finish. The 2004 Montes Alpha Chardonnay easily competes with California Chardonnays selling for two or three times their bottle price. The Montes red wines are equally as impressive with the 2003 Montes Alpha Merlot opening my eyes that you can find a good merlot today for under $30. I stopped purchasing Merlots from California years ago since, in my experiences, they did not age very well and the wine quality was spotty. I am not sure about the aging potential of the 2003 Montes Alpha Merlot but it was wonderful right out of the bottle. Like the Chardonnay, the wine was in balance and the tannins, while present, did not overwhelm the soft fruit flavors of the merlot. I strongly encourage you to track down a bottle of each of the Montes Alpha wines and conduct a tasting with some friends. These wines are food friendly wines and can be enjoyed with a full meal or just some cheese. With wine prices continually climbing, looking to Chile may provide a good alternative for quality wines at reasonable prices. Brian Pasch - February 18, 2007
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