Fat Monk wines are produced by the Villa San-Juliette Winery in Paso Robles. You may recall a review we did of the Villa San-Juliette Zinfandel earlier this year, when we shared the background of this winery which is owned by the producers of American Idol. Fat Monk is their bargain brand, although the prices aren’t too out of control on the Villa San-Juliette wines either.
While the winery is in Paso Robles, the appellation designation on Fat Monk is “Central Coast,” indicating that the grapes are not necessarily from Paso Robles, but they are from the same general area.
The nose is slightly on the tight side, but it still has plenty of good stuff to offer. Baking spice aromas, like nutmeg and allspice, give this wine some real character and those spices are layered over the cherry and raspberry aromatics that you might expect from a California pinot. The palate is brimming with ripe fruit flavors, like strawberry and cherry. It gives a touch of spice in the mid-palate too. And the finish is surprisingly long, although a touch bitter.
Overall, I’m impressed for $15. The bad news is that they didn’t produce a lot of this wine. In fact, they’re already sold out on their website. But you may get lucky enough to stumble across this in your local wine shop.
Wine: Fat Monk
Variety: Pinot Noir
Vintage: 2009
Alcohol: 14.5%
Rating: 87
Price: $15.00
Find Fat Monk Pinot Noir with Snooth
Disclosure: This wine was received as a sample.