The Home of Renowned Tasting

Oh what a lot of wines I have to write up..so I’ll start with a simple one. It says on the website to decant this for an hour before serving and I’d guess that’s because they have not got it into bottle cleanly; initially it’s as reduced as an end of financial year sale at a Bob Jane T-Mart. I’m also not sure of the practicality of decanting a rosé either but suggest the following process. Pour out a glass, shake the bottle vigorously, open cap to let out the pressure and repeat till the rubber hits the road.

Very pretty. It smells of roses, watermelon (did you know they make them without seeds!) and red berries. Lots of rubbery reduction at first but it does blow away. On the palate plenty of flavour of watermelon, red berries and cream with no obvious sweetness propping it up. It has fresh clean acidity, fine balance and drinks beautifully. An excellent and very refreshing rosé. I’d score it a little higher if you did not have to pfaff about doing the cleaning before knocking it off.

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At an annual blind tasting of Pinot Noirs known as the Pinot Cup, this was my wine of choice alongside 11 others hand picked by those attending. It is of the lush style that is bursting with fresh, clean fruit flavours. It is quite ripe, even showing a little plum and I suspect it is better in the short term rather than long. The palate begins with soft red cherry flavours that seamlessly flow through dark cherries and on to the plum end of the Pinot flavour spectrum. Wendy and I were the only members of the group who earn our living making Pinot but for what it’s worth, the group preferred a more brooding style from Central Otago that I will review later.

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This is a blend of 60% Cabernet Sauvignon, 20% Merlot and 20% Carmenère from Rapel Valley, Alto Cachapoal and I spotted it hiding in a box in my office.

Strong red purple colour. Aromas of blackcurrant, sweet dried herb, spice, licorice, cedar and a whiff of ashtray. On the palate medium to full bodied with blackcurrant, licorice root and dried herb flavours backed with mocha oak. It has no shortage of extract with very firm chalky tannins and some lightly bitter phenolics. Finishes dry with blackcurrant and licorice flavours and a rasp of tannin. Perfect with fatty lamb, not so good with crackers!

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JP has always liked the Karman Ghia and I am quite partial to Carmenere. Perhaps we could purchase both one day and have a romantic picnic out in the calming air, drinking Carmenere on the bonnet of the Karman Ghia.

Aromas of plum, bramble fruit, crushed green leaves, dried herbs, meat and pepper. It has that intriguing, slightly confronting, nose that this grape usually offers. On the palate medium to full bodied with flavours of plum, bramble fruit, meat, pepper and dried herbs. Firm grainy tannins and a finish of dried herbs and spice with a fair length of flavour. An excellent wine with lots of interest and style.

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This is 100% Merlot but it smells a bit like Carmenere it must be said.

Aromas of red and black berries, tamarillo, bitter chocolate and hint of rubber. Quite engaging. On the palate medium bodied with red fruit, bitter herbs, spice and a little chocolate. Fresh with dry tannins and a dried herb and red fruit finish. A good refreshing wine made for the table as opposed to tasting like one made from it.

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I pulled the cork out of this wine and gave it a bit of a sniff and it really smells strongly of cork wood. Not taint mind you ..just a very strong stale woody smell of cork. This wine sees 40% barrel ferment with a further 12 months spent in oak.

Aromas of pineapple, honey, herbs, cork wood and spicy oak. On the palate subtle and flavours of tinned grapefruit, honey, capsicum, mouldy wood and flowers backed with spicy oak. Fine acid with softness from oak aging. A very interesting wine. I am not sure I have a representative bottle but rated as is.

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A plastic cork…other bits of the world really need to catch on that this is a very ordinary closure but at least with a sauvignon blanc you know you don’t need to cellar the wine past a couple of years…

Subdued and gentle with aromas of cut green capsicum, flowers, grape fruit and some light tropical notes. On the palate very spicy with grapefruit, lychee and grassy flavours. A light wine with not a lot of cut and thrust but it is quite refreshing. A good solid varietal Sauvignon Blanc.

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I have a box of wines from local importer Fine Wines Of The Americas to review and thought I’d kick things off with a Syrah. Lovely to see more and more imports hitting the shelves.

Aromas of blackcurrant, raspberry, pepper, green capsicum, eucalyptus and attractive creamy oak. The little sulphide pong subsides and licorice richness emerges with airing. On the palate medium to full bodied with flavours of dark cherry, raspberry, spice, herb and some meaty characters. Good flavours. Very highly extracted with mouth-carpeting black tea tannins and spicy meaty finish. This really needs a juicy piece of meat to help tame those tannins.

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For this evenings pre-dinner entertainment I am tasting four wines made from carménère which has become Chile’s signature grape. Carménère is often referred to as ‘the lost grape of Bordeaux’ and it was thought to be merlot until the ‘renowned viticulturist Professor Jean-Michel Boursiquit of Ensa de Montpellier realized the two similar vines had been growing together for more than a century in chile.’ This is the best of the four wines tasted this evening and comes from on offshore offshoot of the famous Chablis winemaker.

Aromas of blackcurrant, raspberry, smoke, earth, capsicum, spice and violets. It has something of the scorched earth smell of Graves about it which I find very attractive. On the palate medium to full bodied with blackcurrant, raspberry, spice, leaf and earthy flavours. Lovely weight and texture with a web of fine grained tannins and fresh clean acidity. Finishes with lightly herbal blackcurrant flavours.

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I’ll investigate these carménère wines further this evening as I plan on tasting them with some BBQ meats which is, I imagine, how they should be consumed…and if I know anything about those crazy Chilenas, lots of kissing and waving of the hands too!

Aromas of bramble fruits, lots of capsicum, spice, light mocha oak, iodine and dried herbs. On the palate medium bodied with raspberry, blackcurrant, dried herb, capsicum and violet flavours. Although it is spicy and tinged with herbal bitterness the fruit is sweet and ripe. Tannins are firm grained with fresh acidity. Finishes with red fruit and bitter herbs. Lots of interest. A quirky wine but enjoyable nonetheless.

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Now working towards the less expensive end of the carménère scale and I find much to like in this particular wine. Lots of character it has and I always enjoy something a little different. I must say I find the overt capsicum and pepper characters of this grape challenging but at the same rather fascinating.

Aromas of red berry, pepper, spice, capsicum and a touch of licorice and earth. On the palate medium bodied with red berry, spice, meat, pepper and dried herb. The tannins are loose knit and lightly gritty. Finished firm and dry with bitter red fruits. Excellent food style.

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This wine is from the Rapel Valley rather than the Maipo Valley like the other three wines this evening. If you click on the link you will see a rather nice map of the region. Chile is all a bit new to me really. I drank quite a bit of Chilean wine when I was living in England and Belgium but not in an educated way. More in a ‘this is good value tasty red wine lets get stuck in’ sort of way!

Aromas of red fruit, marshmallow, meat, capsicum, black pepper and violets. On the medium to full bodied palate slightly Pez candied red fruit, spice, meat, capsicum and dried herbs. Light grainy tannins and refreshing acidity. It is a really nice quaffer for those who feel like a bit of adventure and would like to broaden their wine horizons.

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This wine has just a little carmenere to ease us into a range of wines from Chile that will feature on Winorama next month. The carmenere before the storm if you like. It is a blend of 91.2 % cot (malbec) 6.5 % merlot and 2.3 % carménère.

Strong dark purple. Aromas of concentrated berry, violets, spice, old rhubarb and elastoplast. A curious and engaging smell. On the palate full bodied and packed with berry, milk coffee, stewed fruit and some medicinal overtones. Plenty of fine grained dry tannins and a finish of stewed plum and coffee. Not one for the technocrats perhaps but it is still a very good wine.

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I have a range of wines to review which have been supplied by the local importer - Wines of Chile. I specifically asked for those made from either cot (malbec) or carménère. I think everyone with an interest in wine is always looking for something a bit different to try. To this end, I will be doing a bit of a feature on carménère (the lost grape of Bordeaux) in the coming weeks but to kick things of we start with this wine from the Maule Valley. It is a fascinating blend of carignan 50% syrah 43% merlot 3.5% and malbec 3.5%.

A youthful red purple colour with aromas of lead pencil, ink, dried herbs, blue fruit, sulphur/smoke, game and violets. Quite captivating, quite unusual and quite hard to describe! On the palate full bodied with flavours of blueberry, boysenberry, earth and savoury gamey flavours. The tannins are very firm, grippy and thoroughly mouthcoating but there is enough sweet fruit to cope. Finishes dry and savoury with a firm tannic twist. Rustic, charismatic and hugely enjoyable. It demands a large plate of BBQ meat.

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The third of our Chilean Carmenere wines. The repute of this wine is rates it as the top but how did we find it? Very deep red. The nose was a little closed with a hint of pine tree. The palate was tight with strong wood. A bit of green pepper plus a little herbal edge with blackberry and a touch of fennel. The wine is still pretty tight. BUT, over the next 12 hours it breathed up pretty well. Nice wine that will reward time in the cellar but of the three my vote for bang for bucks is the Errazuriz. So there you have it, seek ‘m out and let me know. Friend Neil tells me that at least one is available downunder.

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The second of three wines supplied by Neil for an exploration of Carmenere. This was our favourite of the three, probably for the wrong reasons….. it had heaps of lovely sweet oak that kept us trying it. Well it went really well with the coq au vin made by the Bishop of Brighton. Dense red colour. Nose that oozes sweet oak with a hint of green pepper and a bit of beetroot and a lovely berry flavour that lapped up the oak. The palate delivered exactly what the nose suggests. Cabernet lovers delight that will reward a good few years in the cellar.

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This is the so called “lost” Bordeaux varietal. Friends Neil and Heather brought three different versions back from a recent trip to Chile. We did a dinner together and the rest of us supplied Merlot since it was meant to be similar in fruit style. The price is what neil paid for it in Chile. The wines all came from the Colchagua valley about 2.5 hrs from Santiago. The colour was pretty dark red but quite bright. The nose had aromas of musk, berry jam with a hint of vanillin. The palate is like a cross between cab and merlot with lovely sweet oak. It is a bit short with a tannin finish that suggests that it will soften and build complexity with a few years in the cellar. Nice wine.

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We visited Concha y Toro vineyards a few years ago and had some impressive wines so when I saw this on the shelf at Vintage Cellars I grabbed it. The warning bells regarding the price being silenced by a shroud of sentimentallity. The wine opened with a strong dose of reductive character ie it had a definite pong. The alarm bells were still ignored. Lots of Shiraz starts off this way, give it time and let it breathe up I thought. It changed to reveal fennel, soft fruit and a bitter edge. The pong revealed itself as a chocolate flavour. Had it with food and it was hard going.

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Almaviva is the name of both the winery and the wine produced by the joint venture between Baron Philippe de Rothschild and Viña Concha y Toro. For those that like a bit of trivia you might be interested to know that the name comes from the character of the count of Almaviva in “The Marriage of Figaro”, originally a satarical play written by Pierre de Beaumarchais and later transformed by Mozart into one the most popular operas of all times.

The wine is a blend of 70% Cabernet Sauvignon, 27% Carmenère and 3% Cabernet Franc. It is aged for 17 months in new French oak. A bright ruby red colour with a kaleidoscopic nose; aromas of spice and plums swirl and dance with blackberries and some leafiness, white pepper, minerals, herbs and some soapiness. It smells impressive and deeply flavoured, and of course the palate does not disappoint. There are plums and chocolate, cedar and vanilla and earth, blueberries and herby smoke, beautiful tannins, great concentration and finesse, structure and all good things like that. A special wine that should age for 15-20 years with ease.

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