Chilean Value

Chilean and Argentine wines are so hot right now, and that's a good thing. Not only are they priced right, but they offer so much wine for the money. Dollar for dollar, a chilean wine will knock your socks off when compared to a domestic wine of the same varietal. And in this economy, that's a double score! I would like to share with you a new find from Chile that is worthy of your attention.
Recently, I had dinner at my mother's house and her husband selected a delicious red wine called Veo Ultima Cabernet Sauvignon. Her husband is notorious for selecting wine based solely on price and most always at the cheapest price point he can find. However, this dinner being a special occaision for us, he had to break his long standing tradition. Dinner was a hearty affair, starting with grilled marinated shrimp with orange wasabi sauce followed by filet mignon and mashed potatoes. The bottle of Veo stood out to me, mostly because I was unfamiliar with it. Curious, I poured myself a glass and enjoyed the aroma: fruit and earth covered lightly with wisps of wooden age. The first sip was tight (this wine would have loved 20-30 minutes to open up)but it showed off its character right away; light body but with a roundness that made it pleasant, dark tart blackberry on the tongue followed by a dusty oaken finish. Not an overly complex wine at all, but one that deserved contemplation in the glass with each sip. And as for the food pairing, well, it lifted the grilled flavors in the filet and continued its finish long after the meat was swallowed. A real delight and it turns out that it was only 11.99 (still a 4 or 5 dollar improvement on my hosts' normal wine budget). The Ultima is a 2007 reserve drawn from three different vineyards owned by Veo in the Colchagua Valley in Chile. Most of the soil these cabernet grapes came from is gravel or rock strewn; hearty vines make hearty wines I guess. The key to this wine is that it has been aged 14 months in French Oak, so a little patience went a long way with this affordable beauty.
If you haven't tried Chilean wines yet, there are plenty of 7.99 - 9.99 choices to dip your foot in the pool, so to speak. but if your willing to spend a few more dollars, you can really enjoy some flavor and finish.

The "Wine Expert"

555 is the street address and name of a prestigious Portland restaurant that I had the pleasure to enjoy recently. Located on Congress Street in a very unassuming building, the dark, swanky atmosphere surrounded us as we were led upstairs to a commanding table overlooking the interior balcony setting that reminded me of an inner city vista, gazing down on a the diners below. The occaision was the 37th Anniversary of some very dear friends of ours and they asked us to join in their celebration: a party of ten vibrant old married souls.
The evening was perfect in that the company was talkative, attentive and lively. The food was near perfect and the wine list was seductively broad and adventurous. But before I get ahead of myself we all started with a cocktail...which meant all of the men selected a single malt scotch (and one of the wives indulged as well). To our delight, we had each chosen a different scotch without discussing our choices out loud. For me, Oban has been my scotch of choice when money is no object; Johnnie Walker black suffices in the interim.
While we were pondering our dinner choices I was asked to make the wine selection for the table. My gracious host asked for one bottle of red and one bottle of white. I was in a social dilemna. First of all, it is a lot of pressure to be asked to make a group selection, especially with people you don't see often. Secondly, since I am always conscious of the food pairings, how can you possibly choose only two wines that will match ten dinner plates? And then there are the other issues: how much does the host want to spend? will two bottles suffice with this crowd of tipsters?
I pored over the wine list and found it to be on the outside of ordinary. I was able to recognize many of the labels and I found a deep selection of grape varieties beyond the run of the mill ChardonnayMerlotCabernetPinotNoirSauvignonBlanc.
After a good fifteen minutes (remember we were talking and drinking scotch, two of my favorite pastimes) I asked everyone to tell me what they were planning to order for dinner. Only one person was eating beef. All others were having either pork tenderloin or some sort of seafood. Relief. I decided on the spot to order a light french style pinot noir and a chardonnay (after one woman told me her favorite wine was Yellow tail chardonnay....ugggggh) I decided on a Perrin et fils La Gigondas cotes du rhone and a chilean Casa Lapostolle Chardonnay; both were forty two dollars but I knew they were only twice the retail price whereas I saw several wines that were marked up triple the suggested retail.
I guess if I have one advantage as the wine selector, I know what the retail price markup is!
The wines were a hit, and I have to say I was relieved to hear people enjoy my selections. We ended up getting a second bottle of the Perrin, a delicate red that developed a soft rounded character as it lay opened on the table. The Casa Lapostolle chardonnay was balanced, with some deep wooden undertones that served to slice through the sauces and butter that came with the seafood dishes. I should tell you that the Casa Lapostolle family is related directly to the Marnier family in France, the same family that makes the exquisite orange liquer Grand Marnier. Last year, Wine spectator awarded them the honor of being the vineyard of the year.
In retrospect, I enjoyed being the "wine expert", but it is very nerve racking. I didn't want to impress people with my knowledge, I just wanted to pick some wine that everyone would enjoy. In the end, it was my knowledge of what wines would pair well with certain foods that won the day. Had I chosen a Cabernet Sauvignon, the wine would have bowled over all of the food save the beef; and had I chosen a Pinot Grigio, the heavy sauces that came with the seafood dishes would have buried the light grape.
Practice does make perfect, and I urge you all to explore food and wine pairings. It will make for a much more enjoyable evening out.

Crucero Sauvignon Blanc

One of the strategies I used to follow when building the wine inventory at Foodstop was to couple a successful label with one of its sister labels. For example, if the Bogle Merlot was selling well, why not partner it on the shelf with the Bogle Cabernet or Zinfandel. My reasoning was, if one offering from a vineyard is solid, their other offerings are probably safe bets as well. Besides, in my hard-lines retail experience, nothing sells well all alone on the shelf, the human eye likes to see a grouping, a billboard, a pattern, etc.
Well, in the world of wine, I have discovered that this isn't always the case. As I have come to understand the effects of weather and soil on the grapes (the terroir, as the French say) I have learned that many vineyards cannot necessarily be good at all things. Think if you will, about the grapes that grow well in rocky soil with plenty of sunlight and the ones that thrive in cool, deep shady hillsides...how can they exist together?
True, you can grow Cabernet, Merlot, and Syrah together and many others, but for a rule of thumb, you cannot always depend on the same label being great with all grapes, you need to know where the wine comes from.
So I approached the Crucero Sauvignon Blanc with some wariness, only because I had to remind myself: "Just because the Crucero Carmenere is decent, doesn't mean the Sauvignon Blanc will be " And sure enough, the Sauvignon did not meet my expectations. Like most Chilean Sauvignon Blanc, this one tended towards the grassy, acidic scale, but it was the aroma that turned me off. It didn't smell right, and it's flavor was somewhat undistinguished.
Suffice to say that there are plenty of Chilean Sauvignon Blanc's that deliver complex flavor and terrific aromatic qualities for the same price or LOWER (8 - 10$) that I decided NO to this one. Caselliero del Diablo, Root 1, Chilensis, and some others I cannot recall off the top of my head are far more remarkable in value than this one.
...but I don't want to end on a negative note, so I will tell you that Crucero makes a decent 10$ Carmenere that serves well as an introduction to the mysteriously deep and flavorful Chilean grape. There are cheaper ones on the market, but this one delivers flavor, finish and some body for 10 bucks, so give it a whirl!