It should come as no surprise to regular readers here that I’m officially a fan of Chilean wines.  I’ve consistently found high quality at reasonable prices with most wines I’ve recently tried from this region.  That doesn’t mean there aren’t some clunkers out there, but the majority of those I’ve tasted have been good.  And that was the case in a recent Chilean wine tasting I participated in.

A few weeks ago I was invited to participate in a “virtual tasting” of Chilean wines.  An organization that represents Chilean winemakers sent samples to me and a number of different wine bloggers and we all tasted in unison during an online video conference.  To be honest, I found the format to be too hurried for me to take thorough notes, and so I spent some time with these wines after the official tasting to properly judge them.  There were a few wines that really stood out, but I found them all to be good.

Some of the wines are over the $20, which is my typical limit for wines that I highlight.  But these are “suggested retail prices” and you can sometimes find wines under these prices if you shop around.  And those that are over $20 are just a couple bucks over.

I’ve been meaning to pull my notes together for a couple weeks now to share with you all, but I’m just now getting to it.  Better late than never.  Enough chit chat… let’s get down to business.  I debated whether I should list them all in one long post or do several short posts and decided that I’ll post each of these wines separately, because it just helps keep things organized and easy to find here.  I’ll list the other wines from this tasting at the end of this post for easy reference once those write-ups are done.

Emiliana Natura Sauvignon Blanc 2008

When I poured this wine it was slightly over-chilled, and yet it still had exceptional intensity in the bouquet right out of the bottle.  There is a definite “wow factor” on the nose of this one. It has powerful tropical fruit aromatics like pineapple, citrus, banana and melon.  Additionally it has a bit of flint and a bit of grassiness.  The palate is also very good, with apple and lemon up front with exceptional acidity, followed by melon and flint.  The finish is fairly long and very enjoyable.  It is an outstanding wine and all organic to boot!

Wine: Emiliana Natura
Variety: Sauvignon Blanc
Vintage: 2008
Alcohol: 13.5%
Rating: 90
Price: $10.99

Find Emiliana Natura Sauvignon Blanc with Snooth