Easter lunch today featured boeuf bourguignon as the main course. Boy, I love the sound of the word boeuf; don't you love it when three vowels align like that? B O E U F. Anyway, getting back to the boeuf, it was irrigated, in both kitchen and table, by Cono Sur pinots because we're going in September to Chile, that sliver of a land with carbuncled topography.
2007 Cono Sur Pinot Noir Bicicleta Valle Central 14.0%
Sealed with (real) cork. The entry level PN from Cono Sur, used by Marcia for the boeuf. Some sour cherry aromas, some wet earth, found with effort and benevolence. Certainly doesn’t taste or smell much like pinot. In fact, doesn’t taste or smell much like any particular grape. About the most I can say about this is that it reminds me of wine. Good thing we used it for cooking.
2006 Cono Sur Gewurztraminer Valle del Bio-Bio Ltd Release 13.5%
Sealed with screw cap. Fresh lychees against a mineral background. Good balance. Simple, but quite refreshing and pleasurable. Bio-Bio, a colder valley further south, with some rainfall, shows promise for riseling and gewurz. I also love the repetition in Bio-Bio, in case one didn't get it the first time.
2006 Cono Sur Sauvignon Blanc Varietal Range Valle Central 13.0%
Sealed with (real) cork. Pleasing aromas of guava, passion fruit and wet slate. Could use a touch more acidity and finishes slightly bitter, but shows attractive fruit. Of all Chilean SBs that I’ve tried, this is the closest to New Zealand.
2007 Cono Sur Sauvignon Blanc Reserva Valle de Casablanca 13.0%
Sealed with screw cap. Didn’t like this as much. Shows capsicum and some passion fruit. Decent acidity but less interesting flavors than the 2006 Valle Central. Should be better, not worse.
2007 Cono Sur Pinot Noir Reserva Valle de Casablanca 14.0%
Sealed with screw cap. Filled almost to the rim, shows a some reduction right after unscrewing the cap, but that soon blows off. Nice bouquet of cherry, forest floor, cloves and rose petals. Shows acceptable pinosity. Very pleasant. Though not a higher-end bottling, this seems to be the hardest one to find in the Cono Sur range of pinots, perhaps because it is (IMHO) the best QPR of the lot.