Posts Tagged ‘Wines of Chile’
Varietal: 100% Pinot Noir
Region: Chile – South America
Cost: $7
Winemaker’s Notes: This voluptuous Pinot Noir is full of rich aromas and flavours of cherry, plum, and strawberry, finished with a subtle spiciness. Balanced and New World styled, this is an elegant wine; the perfect partner for robust fish dishes, white meats, and pork.
My Review: As a slight preview to this Thursday’s Wines of Chile Virtual Blogger Tasting, I decided to open up a bottle of Cono Sur Pinot Noir that I had picked up at Costco during a recent grocery trip. I’ve had Cono Sur wines during several blogger tastings and they tend to always make my list of the top wines for the tasting, and for the value I just couldn’t pass up trying this particular bottle.
It was that time again, this past Wednesday, that time when I get to taste some great wines from Chile along with some of my fellow wine bloggers, all while getting to interact with the winemaker’s down in Chile. It’s easily one of the highlights of writing this site, and something that I look forward to well in advance of each tasting.
This time around the tasting featured Pinot Noir and Syrah. As you can probably guess I was somewhat beyond excited when I found out that I was going to get to sample Chilean Pinot Noir, and add in the Syrah, and the tasting date couldn’t arrive fast enough for my taste. It should be noted, before I start talking about the actual wines, that this is the fourth Wines of Chile that I have had the fortune to participate in, and it may actually have been the best so far, which is saying something. Alright, on to the wines.
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This past Wednesday I once again was lucky enough to participate in the Wines of Chile Virtual Blogger Tasting. For anybody that hasn’t seen me write about this before, Wines of Chile allows bloggers such as myself the opportunity to sample several bottles of Chilean wine and interact with the wine makers. It’s definitely one of the highlights of being a wine writer for me.
This particular tasting was of blended red wines, and I have to say that once I got the tasting kit I quickly wanted the 13th of October to arrive so I could open up the bottles. Given that they send us 8 bottles of wine, I invited several friends and family members over to participate in the tasting with me. So, here’s what we thought about the wines.
2005 Valdivieso Eclat
A blend of 56% Carignan, 24% Mourvedre, and 20% Syrah with a SRP of $27. Garnet in color with hints of purple in the color, red fruit on the nose with a flavor of tart berry on the palate with a noticeable tannic finish. Overall it wasn’t a bad way to start the tasting, but it wasn’t my favorite of the evening.
2006 De Martino Single Vineyard Old Bush Vines “Las Cruces”
A blend of 66% Malbec and 34% Carmenere with a SRP of $45. Dark red in color with aromas of dark chocolate and concord grapes. Flavors of fruit and bell pepper, prominent flavors in both Malbec and Carmenere, seemed to be fighting each other with neither one being able to win. While I didn’t dislike the wine, I don’t know that I could justify paying $45 for it.
2008 Estampa Gold Assemblage Carmenere
A blend of 57% Carmenere, 23% Cabernet Sauvignon, 12% Cabernet Franc, and 8% Petit Verdot with a SRP of $22. Dark, ruby red colors with aromas of pepper, tobacco, smoke, red fruit, and herbs. The flavor of bell pepper from the Carmenere really came through with the Petit Verdot smoothing out the finish. As I enjoy Carmenere by itself this wine was successful to me.
2008 Montes Limited Selection Cabernet Sauvignon Carmenere
A blend of 70% Cabernet Sauvignon and 30% Carmenere with a SRP of $15. Garnet color with aromas of bell pepper and eucalyptus. Flavors of Bell pepper and what I could only call dish rag made me hesitant on this one. It wasn’t my least favorite, but it wasn’t my favorite either, though I will say some time in the decanter helped mellow out the dish rag flavors.
2006 Maquis Lien
A blend of 42% Syrah, 30% Carmenere, 12% Cabernet Franc, 9% Petit Verdot, and 7% Malbec with a SRP of $19. Medium-dark red in color with aromas of ripe black fruit, berry, spice, and a hint of bell pepper. Flavors of bell pepper, black pepper, and crushed fruit with a nice smooth finish made this one both enjoyable, and a great value for the price.
2008 Hacienda Araucano Clos de Lolol
A blend of 31% Syrah, 29% Cabernet Franc, 23% Cabernet Sauvignon, and 17% Carmenere with a SRP of $23. Medium-dark red in color with aromas of licorice, tobacco leaf, blackberry, black cherry, and spices. Flavors of raspberry with a smooth tannic finish that made this one of my favorites on the evening and another great value.
2007 Emiliana Coyam
A blend of 38% Syrah, 21% Cabernet Sauvignon, 21% Carmenere, 17% Merlot, 2% Petit Verdot, 1% Mourvedre with a SRP of $29. An intense dark red color with aromas of dark fruit and earth with which lead into an earthy, dry palate with crushed berry flavors with a bit of oak on it as well. This was probably my favorite of the evening and one I would definitely pick up in the store.
2007 Casas del Bosque Gran Estate Selection Private Reserve
A blend of 61% Syrah, 26% Merlot, 13% Pinot Noir with a SRP of $50. Deep red in color, perhaps the deepest of the night, with aromas of currant, anise, berry, and lavender. Earthy flavors with flavors of black cherry, leather, and what I could only call Robitussin (though not in a bad way). This was easily the wine I was most looking forward to opening once I got the kit, and while I have a hard time spending $50 on any bottle of wine, this bottle was definitely far more worth the cost than the De Martino.
All in all I had a great time doing another Wines of Chile Blogger Tasting, and I look forward to doing more in the future. It was nice to try some other varietals from Chile, though I do think I like Carmenere either all by itself, or as a much smaller percentage of a blend – the bell pepper flavors tend to conflict with others to me.
I want to thank Wines of Chile for including me in this tasting, and thank my friends and family for coming over and helping me enjoy all the wine.
Varietal: Chardonnay
Region: Chile
Cost: $9
Golden yellow in color with aromas of pineapple and papaya with hints of vanilla. Pineapple, citrus, and a subtle acid on the palate. Pairs well with roasted chicken and shellfish in a light cream sauce.
Recommendations: There was a distinct lack of white wine in my house recently, and so during a tasting at my local wine shop I picked up a couple of bottles of white to have around. My wife doesn’t like Chardonnay with a heavy oak flavor, so when I saw the Terra Andina (of which I’ve had other varietals and enjoyed), I grabbed it.
Taking the advice of the tasting notes on the back of the bottle, and because we had both available in the house for an easy dinner, we paired the wine with a dinner of shrimp in a garlic alfredo sauce with some farfalle pasta. The acid of the Terra Andina did a nice job of cutting through the cream sauce, and the citrus flavors, particularly pineapple, were a nice compliment to the taste of the shrimp. Read the rest of this entry »
So this past Wednesday I was fortunate enough to get to participate in a virtual blogger tasting of 8 Chilean Sauvignon Blancs. Myself and several other bloggers were all sent tasting kits that included wine that we would taste on the 12th while interacting with the wine makers via webcam and chatroom.
Since they sent us 8 bottles of wine, I did the only wise thing, and invited several friends over to help me taste all the wines and to get their opinions on them as well. If you’re in the Richmond area you can follow them on twitter at: @ptmartinez ; @melrv ; @jkennett ; @akennett ; and @knownhuman.
All of the wines we tasted were the 2009 vintage and all were 100% Sauvignon Blanc. Our first wine was the Veramonte Sauvignon Blanc from the Casablanca Valley (SRP $10.99). It featured a good bit of citrus with a bit of an effervescent, tart finish, while remaining crisp. Nice and light this would be a great deck wine and was the favorite of my wife’s friend Marisa (she’s not on Twitter or I’d share her login).
Next up was the Ventisquero Sauvignon Blanc, also from the Casablanca Valley (SRP $17.00). With a bit of pepper on both the nose and the palate – there was debate if it was bell pepper or jalepeno – I found it more enjoyable than the first wine, only because I could see pairing it with food better.
Our third wine of the evening was the Undurraga T.H. Sauvignon Blanc from the Leyda Valley (SRP $15.99 – 16.99). A combination of grapefruit and melon on the nose lead into apple flavors, with us debating the type (I settled on Granny Smith, others were saying Gala and Fuji). Read the rest of this entry »
Varietal: Carmenere (75% Carmenere; 15% Cabernet Sauvignon; 10% Syrah)
Region: Chile
Cost: $13
Deep red in color with gentle and silky tannins and rich flavors of ripe plum, blackberry, vanilla and spice. Pair with pasta, grilled meats, spicy entrees, eggplant, or bell peppers.
Recommendations: I’ve been a fan of Root:1 wines for a while, regularly keeping their Sauvignon Blanc on hand. While restocking our wine cellar after the rampant snow we’ve had here in Virginia, my wife and I found a bottle of Carmenere from Root:1 and were quick to grab it.
Paired with a dinner of baked herb chicken and garlic green beans, we were soon ignoring the meal to focus on the wine. Beautifully dark red with aromas of berry and green bell peppers, the spice and bell pepper on the palate are amazing, and reminded me of the Viu Manent Carmenere that I enjoyed during the Wines of Chile Blogger tasting, though the flavors of bell pepper were much more mellow – which was not a bad thing. Read the rest of this entry »
