2009 Corralillo Pinot Noir
Overall impression is sweet, light, easy-drinking and very New World.
Palate Press Wine of the Week: 2009 Carmen Gran Reserva Carmenère
Clear, medium intensity ruby with purple. Aromas of violet, bell pepper, dark fruits, and cedar. Dry on the palate with medium-high acidity, medium-full body, and light tannin. Flavors of cooked blackberry, hickory, molasses, and smoke. Pair with a hearty dish like chili. Recommended. RR
2009 Carmen Gran Reserva Carmenère
Clear, medium intensity ruby with purple. Aromas of violet, bell pepper, dark fruits, and cedar. Dry on the palate with medium-high acidity, medium-full body, and light tannin. Flavors of cooked blackberry, hickory, molasses, and smoke. Pair with a hearty dish like chili. Recommended. RR
2008 Veranda Cabernet-Carménère
A well-made wine that shows both component grapes off very favorably. Intriguing nose of cedar, blackcurrant, thyme, and allspice. Blossoms open on the palate (after about 15 minutes to breathe, perhaps longer) with gobs of ripe fruit ferrying cranberry and blackberry overtones. A bit short in the mid-palate, with the lean Carménère a bit more dominant, but has a long, luscious finish. An interesting wine at a good price. Try with glazed pork chop or roast. Recommended. GT
2009 Vintisquero Sauvignon Blanc Gran Reserva Queulat
This is a pretty impressive Sauvignon Blanc. Pink grapefruit, white flowers, and cut grass waft up out of the glass. The pink grapefruit is joined on the mid-palate by softer, more tropical fruit, perhaps mango, white flowers, again, moving toward white grapefruit on the finish. Drink with fresh flounder. Highly recommended.
Chilean and Argentinian Wines Exceed Bargain Bin Standards
Both Chile and Argentina are also producing unique wines of real character, many of them at prices that are fractions of their Old World European or even U.S. counterparts thanks their to the much lower labor and land costs. You just need to know where to find them.
Fetzer Reborn: Concha y Toro’s Big Plans for California
Most consumers didn’t realize it from the almost surreptitious announcement, but one of California's main wine producers got a huge boost a few weeks ago when Fetzer, the iconic Mendocino County wine company, was sold to a Chilean few Americans know much about.
2007 De Martino Las Cruces Single Vineyard Old Bush Vines
Winemaker Marcelo Retamal is developing a well deserved reputation as one of Chile’s visionaries, and this field blend red (made mostly from Malbec vines planted in the mid 1950s) shows why. This wine is the full package: tobacco smoke, meat, chocolate, dark plum, juicy and silky—which basically means that the tannins are rounder and approachable now. Focused, expressive, and sure to be empty at your dinner table in before-you-know-it timeframes.