This past week I took part in an online wine tasting organized by Wines of Chile, an organization that works to promote Chilean wine around the world.  This particular tasting was put together specifically for wine bloggers, like me.  It’s an  opportunity for bloggers to taste some wines they might not have otherwise tasted, and the obvious goal for the participating Chilean wineries is to get some publicity from the wine blogging community — and it works.

The wines were provided as samples, there were a total of eight wines.  Given the quantity of wine, and my propensity not to be wasteful, I invited about a dozen friends over to join me for the tasting.  All of those I invited over enjoy wine, but they’re not as geeky about it as me.

The way these events work is the participating bloggers receive the wines ahead of time, then on the night of the event we all log onto a web conference.  There’s a split screen video displayed with a moderator from New York City in one view and the winemakers in Chile in another view.  We taste the wines in a predetermined order while the winemakers talk about each one.  There’s a window for chat, we’re bloggers share their comments and post questions to the winemakers.  The participating bloggers often Tweet their comments too.  If you do a Twitter search for #ChileBlends you’ll see some of the Tweets from that night.

One of the things that always strikes me as interesting about these events is how long it takes others participating to loosen up.  I’ve noticed that some other bloggers are concerned with being taken seriously and try to follow establish a professional decorum.  While I agree that if you’re doing product reviews you should have a consistent methodology and take the review itself seriously, I also like the irreverence and individuality that should be inherent in blogging.

At the beginning of the evening I made some humorous comments in the chat stream and nobody got the jokes — except for those who were at the house with me.  Some of those who joined me commented that none of the bloggers seemed to have a sense of humor.  It took until about four glasses in for other participants to loosen up.  This leaves me with one comment to wine bloggers out there: lighten up and have some fun!!

Many of the wines in this tasting were priced above our typical $20 limit here at Cheap Wine Ratings.  But hey, I’m not going to let that stop me from tasting them.  After all, how can I tell you that a $15 bottle of wine tastes like a $40 bottle if I never drink the higher-priced stuff.  But since many of these wines are over the price that readers of this blog are seeking, I’m going to do my reviews in one long post rather than my typical one-post-per-bottle approach.

Here are my impressions of the wines, in the order we tasted them:

Valdivieso, Eclat

This wine comes from the Maule Valley region and is composed of 56% carignan, 24% mourvedre and 20% syrah.  It’s an interesting blend.  The grapes in it at first glance appear to be a blend that might come from Southern France, although I don’t think I’ve ever had a blend dominated by that much carignan.

This wine has very pleasant aromas with vanilla, red currant, blackberry and a little bit of smoked meat.  The palate is filled with red berry and plum flavors and the mouthfeel is mouth-coatingly wonderful.  The acidity really pops on this wine too, giving it a lively characteristic.  It’s very nice.

Wine: Valdivieso, Eclat
Variety: Red Blend
Vintage: 2005
Alcohol: 13.5%
Rating: 88
Price: $27.00

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De Martino, Las Cruces Single Vineyard, Old Bush Vines

Coming from Cachapoal Valley, this was one of the higher-priced wines of the evening at $45.  It’s a blend of 66% malbec and 34% carmenere.  While I’ve tasted plenty of Malbec from Argentina and some from France, this may be the first I’ve tasted from Chile.

The nose is really interesting on this wine, in mostly a good way.  It’s very herbal in nature and almost syrupy smelling.  It has dark fruit aromas as well as something unique.  As I smell this wine, my olfactory memories are buzzing.  ”Is it vinyl? No. Is it a Chiclet? No. I got it!!! It’s grape Kool-Aid powder!”  I commented to the group tasting along with me and they all excitedly exclaimed, “Yes! That’s it!”  Then I posted the comment into the web conference chat, and my all-too-serious wine blogging brethren ignored it and went on about mint or some similar bullshit.  I think they may have considered a Kool-Aid reference to be insulting.  But hey, it was clear as daylight to me.  And I still enjoyed this wine a lot in spite of it.

In the mouth it has dense, dark fruit flavors, and loads of chocolate.  The concentration of flavors is outstanding.  The finish is nice and long.  This is a rich and delicious wine.

Wine: De Martino, Las Cruces Single Vineyard, Old Bush Vines
Variety: Red Blend
Vintage: 2006
Alcohol: 14.5%
Rating: 91
Price: $45.00

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Estampa Gold Assemblage

This blend of 57% carmenere, 23% cabernet sauvignon, 12% cabernet franc and 8% petit verdot comes from Colchagua Valley.  With both carmenere and cabernet franc in the blend I would expect some herbal characteristics to the wine, but it really didn’t strike me that way.

The nose is tighter on this wine, compared ot the first two, but it does show a little bit of red raspberry and leather.  It does have an outstanding mouth feel, with rich, mouth-coating tannins.  The flavors are raspberry, plum and black pepper.

Wine: Estampa Gold Assemblage
Variety: Red Blend
Vintage: 2008
Alcohol: 14%
Rating: 86
Price: $22.00

Montes, Limited Selection, Cabernet Sauvignon Carmenere

The blend of this wine is 70% cabernet sauvignon and 30% carmenere.  It comes from Colchagua Valley.  This is the first wine of the night that was within our typical price range, and it held its own next to the more expensive wines in the lineup.

Despite being only 30% of the blend, the carmenere stands out on the nose of this wine with a soft green pepper aroma.  It also has a slightly dusty aroma, some chocolate and blackberry.  The palate is brimming with ripe blackberry flavors, chocolate on the mid palate and a nice, relatively long finish.  I also like the mouthfeel of this wine.

Wine: Montes, Limited Selection, Cabernet Sauvignon Carmenere
Variety: Red Blend
Vintage: 2008
Alcohol: 14%
Rating: 86
Price: $15.00

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Maquis Lien

This is another wine that meets our target pricing limits.  It also appeared to be the favorite label of the night for many participants.  While I often veer away from wines with “critters” on the label, this one is done in a classy way and isn’t too cute.  The blend is made up of 42% syrah, 30% carmenere, 12% cabernet franc, 9% petit verdot and 7% malbec.

The intensity on the nose is moderate, with aromas of licorice, raspberry and vanilla.  Licorice is one of those aromas that I geek out about when I find it in wines, as I think it adds a nice touch.  The flavors are raspberry, cherry and plum.  This wine is loaded with tasty, ripe fruit.  The finish is super long, with berry and vanilla flavors hanging out for ages.

Wine: Maquis Lien
Variety: Red Blend
Vintage: 2006
Alcohol: 14.5%
Rating: 87
Price: $19.00

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Hacienda Araucano Clos de Lolol

The blend in this wine is 31% syrah, 29% cabernet franc, 23% cabernet sauvignon, and 17% carmenere.  It’s yet another wine from Colchagua Valley.

The aromas from this wine are beautiful and complex.  Red fruit is the most obvious aroma, like raspberry, cherry and strawberry.  But it doesn’t end there.  It has some nice herbal and spice qualities adding complexity, like clove and a hint of tomato leaf. And finally, there’s a slight smokiness on the nose too.  I get a nice strawberry-cherry flavor from this wine, with a velvety mouthfeel.  This wine is dense—almost chewy, but smooth.

Wine: Hacienda Araucano Clos de Lolol
Variety: Red Blend
Vintage: 2008
Alcohol: 14%
Rating: 88
Price: $23.00

Emiliana Coyam

The final wine of the night from Colchagua Valley, this one is a blend of 38% syrah, 21% cabernet sauvignon, 21% carmenere, 17% merlot, 2% petit verdot and 1% mourvedre.

The aromas from this wine are a nice blend of fruit and earth, with blackberry, beets, leather and chocolate. The palate is very juicy, with ripe blackberry and plum flavors.  There is some chocolate in there too.  I noticed the oak a little too much in the back of the palate, but only for a second.  It’s still a very nice wine.

Wine: Emiliana Coyam
Variety: Red Blend
Vintage: 2007
Alcohol: 14.5%
Rating: 88
Price: $29.00

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Casas del Bosque, Gran Estate Selection, Private Reserve

This is the final and most expensive bottle we tasted that evening, priced at $50.  It’s also the heaviest bottle of the evening, and when empty feels as heavy as most bottles feel when they’re full.  It’s a blend of 61% syrah, 26% merlot and 13% pinot noir.

There is a ton of complexity in this wine.  The aromas are dark, like cassis, mushrooms, tar, soy sauce, and black pepper.  The concentration on the palate is outstanding, with flavors like black currant, blackberry, chocolate and a hint of salami.  It’s a nice wine and has a super-smooth mouth feel.  While it’s a big wine, it’s still elegant.

Wine: Casas del Bosque, Gran Estate Selection, Private Reserve
Variety: Red Blend
Vintage: 2007
Alcohol: 14%
Rating: 90
Price: $50.00

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