This year’s Gourmet Food & Wine Expo at the Metro Toronto Convention Centre offered up a host of wonderful Tutored Tastings including David Lawrason’s “Chile All Ways Surprising” session. Eight Chilean wines, varying in price points and grapes were presented with a bit of historical background inlcuding vineyard and geographic area.
Chile has been making wine since the middle of the nineteenth century, according to Lawrason, by European immigrants who settled in and around Santiago largely due to the gold rush at the time. The Maipo Valley and several other areas surrounding it are blessed with a sunny, temperate climate that parallels that of California. The areas’ hot and dry conditions means that most vines and local orchards are virtually disease-free, which according to Lawrason, means wine makers in Chile don’t need the chemical assistance of sprays in helping their grapes grow and stay pestilence-free. Some would even go as far as saying that the climate encourages a natural, organic wine to be grown and produced.
Here in Canada, Chilean wines first started reaching us in the early 1980s. Lawrason recalls that back then, he could buy a big $6 or $7CDN jug of Chilean wine at the LCBO (Liquor Control Board of Ontario – where Ontarians buy their alcoholic beverages). That helped wines from this part of the South America get a toe-hold in this country- and today, the variety of Chilean wine has grown up and become more sophisticated than it was in its adolescent years.
While Red wines are more important in Chile than its White ones, we sampled two that were quite palate-pleasing:
We started with a Reserva Sauvignon Blanc 2006 from Viña Santa Carolina ($11.95 CDN). This bright, fresh wine is softer and richer than New Zealand sauv blancs and full of tangerine and pineapple aromas. Perfect for a grilled fish dinner or certain Asian dishes.
From there, we moved on to the Viña Casa Lapostolle’s Cuvée Alexandre Chardonnay 2005 from the Casablanca Valley ($33.95 CDN). Finished in French Oak casks, this wine was rich and fruity and it’s interesting to note that Chardonnay wasn’t an original varietal in Chile.
The Red wine tasting started with:
Viña La Rosa 2004 Merlot from the Cachapoal Valley ($14.95). A young wine with lots of tannins, this is a very popular drinking wine in Chile. Lawrason described it as “fruity, supple, round with lots of blackberry and plumy flavours.”
One of the “best value” bottles of the day was the Viña Concha y Toro Casillero del Diablo Carmenère 2005 from the Maipo Valley ($12.55 CDN). Originally from Bordeaux, this oak-aged wine is described as “leathery, with greenness and cassis flavours.” Lawrason and the crowd in attendance are big fans of this wine- he even gave it 4.5 stars out of five in a recent review!
My favourite of the day however was the Viña Concha y Toro Marques de Casa Concha- a 2004 Cabernet Sauvignon from 2004 going for $18.95 CDN. A dark, rich red, this Chilean classic is fragrant, has a long finish and pairs beautifully with red meats and lamb prepared with dry herbs and seasonings. Perfect cold-weather dining food and wine!
My sister fell head over heels for the $79.00 CDN bottle of Viña Seña- a Cabernet Sauvignon 2001 Blend from the Aconcagua Valley. This is one of Chile’s high-end wines geared at showing the world it can produce wine at this calibre successfully. This is an all-organic wine that Lawrason praised as being “really well balanced with a silk on the palate finish.” Need I say more? She ran down to the LCBO shop at the show and snagged one of three remaining bottles. I say we let it breathe for Christmas dinner (she however may have other plans for said bottle of lovely red).
If you’d like to try some of these wines out on your friends, how about hosting your own Wine Tasting Party- a perfect reason to gather friends no matter what time of the year (I vote for January or February to quell the winter doldrums!). Cheers!
