WTN: Chilean Wine Tasting

[Jenise]

Our neighborhood tasting group (44 tasters) enjoyed three Chilean Sauv Blancs and six Chilean Cabernet Sauvs last night. In order of my own favorites:

The Sauvignon Blancs (unblind, self-pour):

2006 Cono Sur 'Vision' Sauv Blanc: Peas, lime and white peach with an oddly pleasant vegetal core the some thought rubbery or smokey but which reminded me of bandaids. Golden color, richer and bigger bodied than most SB's, and the driest of the three which is why I was so surprised that it was the overwelming favorite of the group. These four bottles were emptied well before the third bottle of either of the other two was finished. $12.99

2007 Veramonte Reserve Sauv Blanc: the Wine Enthusiast described it better than I could. "True Casablanca Valley SB...it hits with piercing, almost sweaty aromas of citrus and celery, and that nose yields to grassy and tropical flavors that are intense, balanced and slightly complex. A terroir wine for $11? Not bad at all." Our price was $8.99, so even better.

2007 Root: 1 Sauvignon Blanc: transparent color, sweet, perfumey nose of green gauge plums and a slightly sweet entry, but the wine finished clean and dry. Interestingly different. $9.99

The Cabernets (all wines served blind):

2003 Vina Altair "Sideral": uncorked four hours before the tasting, an initial green herb-and-camphor nose blew off, revealing a rich wine of cassis, cedar and spice on ripe red and black fruit. Concentrated, balanced, complex and elegant. In a class by itself, I thought. My first place wine, but inexplicably only group fifth. $25.

2006 Montes Alpha: Red and blue fruit on the nose with tobacco, a little leather and dust. Rounded tannins, good finish, and very likeable but it lacks the complexity and richness of the Sideral. My 2nd, Group 2nd. $21.

2005 Marques de Concha, Concha y Toro: Cedary black cherry and plum fruit with generous mint and black pepper. Layered with nicely rounded edges from bottle aging and ready now. Excellent QPR. $17 at Trader Joe's. My 3rd place wine, group 1st.

2006 Viu Manent: Dark and dense in color. Blackberry, earth, dark chocolate, foresty notes. A dilly American oak note dissipates over time. Needs an hour or two of decanting to show well. My 4th, group 3rd.

2007 Casillero del Diablo Reserve, Concha y Toro: Varietally correct black cherry fruit with mint and smoke. A bit simple in contrast with the others but quite satisfying, and like all the others it got some first place votes. My 5th, group 5th. And I have to add a story: one of the guys in our group owns a mining company and spends a lot of time in South America. When he looked over the list, he saw the Montes Alpha, which is one of his favorite wines, and the Casillero del Diablo, which he hates. He was certain he'd be able to identify them immediately, and they would be his automatic 1st and 6th place wines. Didn't work out like that. That is, he turned out to be right about which one was the Montes but he wasn't really sure, and the dreaded Casillero was his second favorite! Ah, the humbling experience of blind tasting.

2003 Casa Lapostolle Cuvee Alexander: Big and thick like blackberry puree with anise and dried fig notes. Massively oaked, rough tannins. Clunky and rustic (I presume unfiltered). My 6th, group 6th. But saying it's my 6th isn't really condemning enough: I liked all the other wines but despised this one.

Our neighborhood tasting group (44 tasters) enjoyed three Chilean Sauv Blancs and six Chilean Cabernet Sauvs last night. In order of my own favorites:

The Sauvignon Blancs (unblind, self-pour):

2006 Cono Sur 'Vision' Sauv Blanc: Peas, lime and white peach with an oddly pleasant vegetal core the some thought rubbery or smokey but which reminded me of bandaids. Golden color, richer and bigger bodied than most SB's, and the driest of the three which is why I was so surprised that it was the overwelming favorite of the group. These four bottles were emptied well before the third bottle of either of the other two was finished. $12.99

That rubbery / smokey character could be the much talked about reduction.

Interesting comment about the Veramonte SB being a 'terroir' wine. Neil sometimes finds celery in NZ Sauv Blanc. It's not a descriptor I would usually use, though.

Coincidentally, the weekly wine tasting I go to had three Chilean wines this week. This is a seated tasting (if one gets there early enough) and wines are poured blind, by a pouring person. I Like this because I prefer to taste blind so there are no preconceptions, as with the mining guy at your tasting. At my tasting they get through at least four bottles and wines are served one at a time. All of the wines had cork closures.

Concha y Toro Explorer Chardonnay 2007 - Casablanca Valley, Chile
Light gold coloured and quite crisp, citrussy, buttery and creamy with warmth to the peach and melon fruit. At first it seems there is little influence of oak but it becomes more smoky, nutty and toasty, and has a bright zesty finish. 13.5% alc. NZ$14.99.
This was the first wine and is poured at the counter when one arrives and pays the money. There seemed to be a lot of bottle variation - the wine I had was OK, but there was definitely some nose turning-up from other tasters.

Cono Sur Reserva Carmenere 2006 - Colchagua, Chile
Dark pinky red/black with quite intriguing scents of polished oak embellished with bitumen, tar and blackberry jam, it is quite oily and tarry in the medium to full palate too, with biscuity oak, cherries, violets, dried herbs and a savoury spicy finish yet quite creamy finish. 14% alc. NZ$19.99.

Viu Manent Secreto Syrah 2006 - Colchagua, Chile
There was something immediately familiar about this vividly coloured purple black wine. It is fragrantly scented with sweet oak, cherry and chocolate and the mouth-filling flavours are sweet oaked and juicy with 'cherry ripe', vanilla, chocolate and cassis with soft easy tannins, a peppery infusion and a luscious note to the more savoury finish. It is familiar because it is bordering on Aussie Shiraz. 14.5% alc. NZ$23.99.

Our neighborhood tasting group (44 tasters) enjoyed three Chilean Sauv Blancs and six Chilean Cabernet Sauvs last night. In order of my own favorites:

The Sauvignon Blancs (unblind, self-pour):

2006 Cono Sur 'Vision' Sauv Blanc: Peas, lime and white peach with an oddly pleasant vegetal core the some thought rubbery or smokey but which reminded me of bandaids. Golden color, richer and bigger bodied than most SB's, and the driest of the three which is why I was so surprised that it was the overwelming favorite of the group. These four bottles were emptied well before the third bottle of either of the other two was finished. $12.99

Jenise, the Cono Sur 'Vision" has been one of my summer sipper whites. I agree with your notes regarding the vegetal core on the wine, but I have been thinking that what some thought rubbery or smoky and you thought bandaids was a bit of a leesy character. I find that on wines, mainly whites fairly often. Even found it on one of Steve Edmunds wines once and posted same. He came back confirming that he had left the wine on the lees for sometime. I got a better deal though as I found a stash of it for $7.50 per bottle, which reminds me I probably should just go ahead and get another case of it soon to finish out what is becoming HOT!

I have tasted some nice wines from the "Vision" label, including a very good PN. Might be a good idea to look out for the Cono Sur "20 barrels" line as well.

Thank you, Jenise, and also Sue, for the excellent notes. Very useful to me in this neck of the woods.

Tonight I am going to open a 2004 Haras de Pirque Sauvignon Blanc as an aperitif before a burgundy tasting and will let you know.

[Jenise]

Thank you, Jenise, and also Sue, for the excellent notes. Very useful to me in this neck of the woods.

Tonight I am going to open a 2004 Haras de Pirque Sauvignon Blanc as an aperitif before a burgundy tasting and will let you know.

Ah, you found the Haras! I'll be interested in your opinion, since I liked it so much. Was very disappointed to not be able to get it for this tasting, though the three wines we did have were each good and well-suited to a segment of our tasters.

[Jenise]

Jenise, the Cono Sur 'Vision" has been one of my summer sipper whites. I agree with your notes regarding the vegetal core on the wine, but I have been thinking that what some thought rubbery or smoky and you thought bandaids was a bit of a leesy character. I find that on wines, mainly whites fairly often.

So do I, from California to New Zealand and I admit that for a second I wondered if what I was tasting was a Chilean version of that. But it was distinctly bandaid to me--remember Bactine?--where leesiness is always, to me, a cheese flavor. So I dunno--except, whatever it was, I liked it!

[Jenise]

Interesting comment about the Veramonte SB being a 'terroir' wine. Neil sometimes finds celery in NZ Sauv Blanc. It's not a descriptor I would usually use, though.

Same here, which is why I included their note instead of my own. It seemed to be a more informed opinion than I could possibly have.

Coincidentally, the weekly wine tasting I go to had three Chilean wines this week. This is a seated tasting (if one gets there early enough) and wines are poured blind, by a pouring person. I Like this because I prefer to taste blind so there are no preconceptions, as with the mining guy at your tasting. At my tasting they get through at least four bottles and wines are served one at a time. All of the wines had cork closures.

So you don't even know what the wines are? That's double blind vs. single blind, right? Btw, the way we do this, I usually don't know which wine is in which position, which I try for because I too don't want to taste with bias. I'd love to serve ours one at a time, but for this many people (we'd have had 60 if not for a major boating excursion by a group of our regulars), it would be chaos. Much easier to pour them all and then sit down.

Interesting notes on your Chileans. I have to admit something: though I can't seem to keep their various brands straight after the Don Melchor, I have a real soft spot for Concha y Toro. I visited the winery in Chile and was treated to a sit-down lunch at the hacienda of the former Marquesa. It was formal, old world, classic service, including a tuxedo-ed butler for each of us. They told us the story of the heir and heiress to the leading wine growing families in Santiago marrying--this would be like a Gallo marrying a Mondavi--and combining their names to create one winery. Hence, Concha AND Toro.

Haven't had either of the other wines you mention, but was quite surprised by the prices. Without normalizing our numbers to adjust for currency values, the Secreto line runs about $8-9 up here. Or at least, that was true of their malbec about a year ago, the syrah could be higher but it wouldn't be much more than a dollar or two. At those prices, are Chileans competitive in your market?

So you don't even know what the wines are? That's double blind vs. single blind, right? Btw, the way we do this, I usually don't know which wine is in which position, which I try for because I too don't want to taste with bias. I'd love to serve ours one at a time, but for this many people (we'd have had 60 if not for a major boating excursion by a group of our regulars), it would be chaos. Much easier to pour them all and then sit down.

Haven't had either of the other wines you mention, but was quite surprised by the prices. Without normalizing our numbers to adjust for currency values, the Secreto line runs about $8-9 up here. Or at least, that was true of their malbec about a year ago, the syrah could be higher but it wouldn't be much more than a dollar or two. At those prices, are Chileans competitive in your market?

The tasting this week was advertised as "Europe, South America and Mumm Champagne" - and the Mumm was not tasted blind because a French guy from Mumm presented those two wines. There are the occasional tastings with guest presenters and so, then also, the wines are then not tasted blind. But 95% of the time they are. I usually never know what's in the tasting unless it has been advertised in the newsletter that we are having Felton Road Pinot Noir or some such lauded wine, as I guess it helps to get people along, but even then you never know when it is going to be served. Our tasting host likes to serve wines blind because he can then play games on guessing the country where it is from and/or the grapes it is made from.

There are usually 60 to 70 people at these tastings but sometimes over 100 people, depending on the theme. But there are a dedicated team of workers - and serving the wines one at a time means there are fewer glasses to wash up.

As for Chilean wines in our market place- I would say they have very little impact. You need tastings like this to get them in front of people. EVen then I would say something like the Concha y Toro Chardonnay would be a hard sell unless the price becomes irresistible. Australia produces amazingly affordable wines - we have Shiraz-cultured palates in this part of the world - and the next most affordable and interesting imported wines come from Spain.

There's a guy who imports a swag of Chilean wines and he put some of them in the New Zealand International Wine Show last year, with gold medal results for Viu Manent Secreto Syrah 2006, Viu Manent Secreto Malbec 2006 and Cono Sur Reserva Carmenere 2006. It was a good result for him.

Cheers,
Sue

2004 Haras de Pirque Sauvignon Blanc Vale de Maipo
Served as an apperitif before dinner. Attractive and reasonably complex nose of grapefruit, honey, white flowers, and gooseberry, followed by vibrant acidity, good mouthfeel and a slightly leesy note. The fruit is begginning to fade, but less than I feared for a 2004. Still alive and quite pleasurable. This made me realize that gooseberry is not enough for me to get the NZ "feeling" that I'm looking for in Chilean SB. That requires either guava, mango or passion fruit!

This is an interesting winery. Haras means stable, and the site is divided into racing horse stables and a vineyard. Sounds like an interesting visit, if any of us ever get to the Maipo valley.

http://www.harasdepirque.com/

[Jenise]

Australia produces amazingly affordable wines - we have Shiraz-cultured palates in this part of the world - and the next most affordable and interesting imported wines come from Spain.

Sue, that's exactly why it surprises me to see Chilean wines in NZ. You don't NEED Chile, especially if they're not inexpensive.

Re the glassware/pouring thing, we don't provide glassware at all, so cleanup's not an issue. Everybody brings their own.