bajabound2005
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Chilean Wine in Baja Sur
We are former Sacratomatoes and found this interesting...
Dunne on Wine: More verve – and value
Special to The Bee (Sacramento)
Published Wednesday, Jun. 03, 2009
One word: Chile.
That's the answer when someone asks where to dispose of a bit of his or her dwindling disposable income while scanning shelves and bins in search of a
wine to pour with dinner.
No, no bottle of wine, regardless of the stature of its provenance, comes with a guarantee that the person who buys it is going to like it.
But during a three-month stay in Mexico last winter, I made the quite happy discovery that when I picked up a bottle of Chilean wine, I was delighted
far more often than disappointed, in both quality and value. In short, Chile is providing more punch for the wine buck than any other nation during
these economically precarious times.
I'd hauled to Mexico a stash of California wine. But as that inventory shrank, I found myself drifting more and more to the Chilean wine section at
the supermarket – at first tentatively, but soon eagerly.
As an experiment in frugality, I imposed a limit of $10 in U.S. currency on my wine purchases. I discovered that a sawbuck spent on a Chilean wine
today can buy you several refreshing and occasionally even exhilarating glasses of "vinos tinto, rosado, clarete o blanco."
That's a phrase, incidentally, I ran across while reading the list of about 90 U.S. products on which Mexican authorities in March abruptly slapped
retaliatory tariffs. This was after officials in the Obama administration put the brakes to a pilot program that over the past two years allowed
Mexican trucks to haul goods on highways in border states. The angry tariff worked out to a 20 percent increase for the price of California wine
shipped to Mexico.
For us and our Mexican, American and Canadian neighbors in Baja California Sur, this international trade snit elicited little more than a big yawn
between sips of Chilean wine.
California wines have decent distribution on store shelves and restaurant wine lists in the sister cities of San José del Cabo and Cabo San Lucas at
the tip of the Baja peninsula. But when you see so many California wines selling for two or three times what you would pay in Sacramento, you laugh
and move on, generally to the Chilean section.
It's large. The Chilean wine trade pretty much has the Mexican market locked up, at least in Baja California Sur. Argentine and Spanish wines also are
popular and accessibly priced, and Australian, Italian and French releases share a fairly strong presence in the area.
For diversity and value, however, no country is as dominant in Los Cabos as Chile.
I never caught the first wave of Chilean wine when it surged into California a couple of decades ago. The wines often were uneven, frequently thin and
not particularly exciting. I couldn't get with the excitement they generated among several other wine scribes.
Clearly, over the past couple of decades, Chilean wines have progressed dramatically in consistency and quality. For 60 to 130 pesos per bottle ($4.50
to $9.75), we enjoyed clean and vigorous chardonnays, zesty sauvignon blancs, and herbal and lithe cabernet sauvignons.
I was aware that Chile is widely respected for those varietals, but felt I was pushing my luck when I picked up a bottle of the Agustinos 2008 Valle
Bio Bio Winemaker Selection Reserva Pinot Noir, a varietal for which the country isn't customarily recognized. And while it was light in color, light
in body and young, it nevertheless delivered sweet and tangy cherry fruit.
I vowed that upon returning to Sacramento I'd keep an eye out for it, along with the snappy Vina Morande Pionero 2008 Valle de Casablanca Chardonnay,
the round and limey Concha y Toro 2008 Reservado Sauvignon Blanc, and the spicy, concentrated and exceptionally well-balanced Gran Tarapaca 2007 Valle
del Maipo Cabernet Sauvignon.
They may be around here, though I haven't spotted any of them yet. Nevertheless, we have been savoring several other attractively priced Chilean wines
found locally. Two recent delights: The smooth, tangy, sweetly fruity and alluringly herbal Santa Ema 2006 Maipo Valley Barrel Select Reserve 60/40, a
youthful blend of 60 percent cabernet sauvignon and 40 percent merlot ($7.59 at Costco), and the fresh and sprightly Viu Manent 2007 Valle de
Colchagua Reserva Carmenere, all raspberries and blackberries showered with a julienne of sage and mint ($11.99 at Taylors Market).
Let's hope United States and Chilean authorities don't get in some trade dispute that results in the price of the imports here jumping 20 percent or
so.
Friends don't let friends drink white zinfandel.
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capt. mike
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couldn't agree more - Chilean vins can be great and easy on the $$$s
formerly Ordained in Rev. Ewing\'s Church by Mail - busted on tax fraud.......
Now joined L. Ron Hoover\'s church of Appliantology
\"Remember there is a big difference between kneeling down and bending over....\"
www.facebook.com/michael.l.goering |
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Hook
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I couldnt agree more about the Gran Tarapaca 2007 Valle del Maipo Cabernet Sauvignon.
The other real find is a Carmenere from Concha Y Toro's second label, Adobe Emiliana. THAT one is incredible, if you can find it.
Most all the Sauv. Bl. we're tried,we've liked. Not so with the Chards; often too much oak and fruit.
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fishingmako
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These Chilean Wines are available at Trader Joes for a mere $3.00 /bottle a bit of an upgrade from TWO BUCK CHUCK.
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BMG
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We have definitely seen a better selection of wines available in La Paz. Many nice wines from Chile and Argentina. What we miss are the Zins and the
Pinots.
BTW, what are "lithe cabernet sauvignons"? Wines for gymnasts?
I think the world is run by C- students.
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Bajahowodd
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US wines were expensive in Mexico even before the recent trade snit. For years, I've wondered why I've seen more Chilean wines on BCS restaurant wine
lists than Mexican wines. Two thoughts come to mind. First, it wasn't that long ago that the then nascent wine industry was turning out terrible
stuff, and as they found their "legs" adopted a BMW-type snobbery by hiking their prices. Second, given distance and shipping costs, Chile would
appear to be almost dumping wine on the market.
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Bajahowodd
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If you miss the sturdier reds, look for a South American or Australian malbec.
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djh
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Mood: Mellow fellow, plays a yellow cello...
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Agri. practices ?
Good topic ! 
I do not know this for fact, but I have heard it often amongst enologist amigos ~ that Chile has little to no regulation on agricultural chemical use,
handling, labeling, etc. ~ while neighboring Argentina have safer practices & guidelines.
Anyone have any facts on this ?
I DO know for a fact that there are several Argentine wines that I really like... especially their Malbecs (Norton's several lables, for example).
Malbec seems to be to Argentina what Temparinillo is to Spain, what Sangiovese is to Italy . . . etc.
djh
Its all just stuff and some numbers.
A day spent sailing isn\'t deducted from one\'s life.
Peace, Love, and Music
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capt. mike
Elite Nomad
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i picked up the chilean wines on sale @ TJ's at $3.99 yesterday - the Malbec and another, they are on special stacked display.
trying them tonite....looking forward to it! if they are good it will be cases next.
formerly Ordained in Rev. Ewing\'s Church by Mail - busted on tax fraud.......
Now joined L. Ron Hoover\'s church of Appliantology
\"Remember there is a big difference between kneeling down and bending over....\"
www.facebook.com/michael.l.goering |
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