Every now and then we come across something we weren’t expecting and that gets us intrigued.  This is one of those cases.  It’s a carignan from Chile.

I wouldn’t be surprised to find a carignan from Southern France, or even from a Paso Robles Rhone Ranger.  But I wasn’t expecting to see one from Chile.  And my first hunch when I saw it was that someone was experimenting in Chile, but this is more than an experiment, it comes from 60 year old vines!  Yes, this wine has been in Chile for a while.  And that’s a good thing because carignan from young vines can actually be a bit too astringent.  And while this one has a little bit of astringency, it’s not unapproachable.

This wine has the kind of aromas on the nose that make me fall in love with a wine.  It’s a beautifully balanced blend of fruit and spices.  It opens up with cedar and nutmeg aromas, supported by cherry and black currant.  There’s no subtlety to this wine.  It’s in your face in a bold and confident way.  The palate has a slight astringency, which as I said, is typical for carignan, but the flavors are quite nice.  It has a deep, spiced black currant, blackberry and beet flavor, which evolves into cocoa on the mid-palate.  The finish lingers for an extended time, showcasing the cocoa and currant flavors, along with some black tea notes.  This wine will definitely show you something different from the everyday, in a good way.

If you’re an adventurer with your wine, I’d say this is definitely one to check out.

Wine: Meli
Variety: Carignan
Vintage: 2010
Alcohol: 14%
Rating: 86
Price: $15.00

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Disclosure: This wine was received as a sample.

I’ve commented in previous reviews that not all malbec comes from Argentina.  Today we have the opportunity to check out one from Chile, the Maule Valley region to be more specific.

This malbec is from Apaltagua, not an unfamiliar brand to us.  We’ve reviewed a few of their other wines and found them to be nice, so we were certainly curious to see what they would do with a malbec.

This malbec is definitely different from the Argentine ones we’ve tasted.  The nose has a pronounced vegetal/herbal characteristic that I would describe as a cross of green pepper and mint.  I often appreciate the complexity and character that an herbal or vegetal aroma will add to a wine, but in this case it’s a little out of balance, making it detract from rather than add to the wine.  On the positive side, it also shows some clove, plum and cherry aromas which are quite nice.

The palate offers up plum and cherry flavors with some black pepper toward the finish, which is a touch on the bitter side.  The fruit is nice, but I still find myself questioning the balance in this wine.  I’m starting to sound a little negative, so to be clear I don’t hate this wine.  But at the same time, I don’t love it.  It’s a drinkable malbec, but it just doesn’t have the balance and harmony needed to make it a great malbec.

Wine: Apaltagua Reserva
Variety: Malbec
Vintage: 2010
Alcohol: 13.5%
Rating: 82
Price: $12.00

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Disclosure: This wine was received as a sample.

Argentine malbec has become so popular recently that I get the impression that a lot of consumers assume that all malbec comes from Argentina.  But not so.  Malbec is actually actually one of the six Bordeaux varietals, although its popularity in Bordeaux has faded significantly in the past 50-some years.  It is, however, very popular in Cahors, France.  And with the popularity Argentine malbec has seen in recent years, other parts of the world are trying out this varietal more and more.  The malbec we’re reviewing today comes from the Colchagua Valley in Chile.

In general, Chilean malbec has a tendency to be more tannic than Argentine.  But this one wasn’t overly tannic and most importantly, it was good.

Sometimes when I taste a wine, I’ll visualize musical notes from the aromas, or perhaps tones is a better description, like bass, midrange and treble.  I guess it’s just a good analogy as certain scents seem to have a particular frequency.  And when a wine is balanced, the musical tones seem harmonious.  This wine is just that, harmonious.  When I smell the wine I get some blackberry aromas in the bass range, plum in the midrange and vanilla overtones in the treble.  And what makes them harmonious is that they complement each other with a perfect balance of each.

The palate offers some plum and blackberry flavors, but it lacks some of the depth I was hoping for based on the nose.  The tannins are slightly dry, giving some texture to the mouthfeel.  And the acidity is spot on, adding a little brightness to the finish.  While it’s not the richest malbec out there, it’s a decent wine for $12.

Wine: Calcu
Variety: Malbec
Vintage: 2009
Alcohol: 13.5%
Rating: 85
Price:  $12.00
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Disclosure: This wine was received as a sample.

Today we have a double-header from William Cole, with two of their 2010 pinot noir releases.  Both of these come from the Casablanca Valley, a superb cool-climate region in Chile.

2010 William Cole Albamar Pinot Noir

This wine presents some really intiguing herbal aromatics that I would describe as “stalky”.  Think dried grasses and herbs.  That’s the smell.  It also shows some tree bark, rhubarb and raspberry aromas.  On the down side, the alcohol is a bit strong on the nose.  On the palate, this wine brings rich raspberry and cranberry flavors, along with plenty of spice.  I often say that I enjoy the nose of a wine more than the palate, but in this case it’s the palate that I enjoy the most.  The nose is interesting, but the herbal characteristics are almost overbearing.  But still, this is a fun pinot noir.

Wine: William Cole Albamar
Variety: Pinot Noir
Vintage: 2010
Alcohol: 13.5%
Rating: 84
Price: $13.00

2010 William Cole Columbine Special Reserve Pinot Noir

Last year, we reviewed the 2009 vintage of this wine and it was outstanding.  And while the 2010 is still enjoyable, it’s not quite as good as the 2009.  This is one of those occasions when I’m reminded how much difference a vintage can make.

True to form with other Chilean pinot noir we’ve tasted this year, including the William Cole Albamar, the Columbine Special Reserve pinot noir has some very strong herbal notes on the nose.  In this wine, I would describe those aromas as a cross of tomato leaf and sage.  The nose also offers some raspberry and cherry aromas.  In the mouth, this wine is very approachable with a tasty red berry blend of raspberry, cherry and strawberry flavors.  It has a little bit of spice and mineral on the finish.  While I enjoyed this wine, the herbal fragrances are a bit intense and won’t be everyone’s cup of tea.

Wine: William Cole Columbine Special Reserve
Variety: Pinot Noir
Vintage: 2010
Alcohol: 13.5%
Rating: 85
Price: $15.00

Disclosure: These wines were received as samples.

The weather has started to turn to autumn here and that means it’s time to start drinking some pinot noir!  Let’s start the pinot noir exploration with one from Chile.

Five years ago, if you had offered me a Chilean pinot noir I probably would have reluctantly tried it without expecting much.  But things are changing when it comes to chilean pinot.  They’ve figured out what works for pinot noir in their terroir and they’re producing some nice pinot these days.

Pinot noir is a cool climate grape and Chile’s Casablanca Valley is an exceptional cool climate appellation.  And that’s where this Veramonte pinot noir is produced.

The nose on this pinot noir is absolutely fascinating.  There’s a really intense cherry aroma, which gives a good base to the nose.  Alongside the cherry, you’ll find lots of spice and herb aromas that give this wine a lot of charcter.  It does have some mint fragrances, which were a little aggressive at first but once the wine opens up that aroma becomes more integrated and approachable.  It also has some black pepper, truffle and cola aromas.  The palate has a really nice mouth feel with cherry and raspberry flavors.  The acidity is perfect.  It finishes with a little bit of nutmeg and cherry.

Wine: Veramonte
Variety: Pinot Noir
Vintage: 2009
Alcohol: 14%
Rating: 88
Price:  $13.99

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Disclosure: This wine was received as a sample.

We reviewed Apaltagua’s Carménère Reserva back in April and found the wine to be a fine example of new world carménère.  We’ve finally gotten around to reviewing the vintner’s more polished Carménère offering, their 2008 Envero Gran Reserva.  While the Reserva is 100% carménère, the Envero Gran Reserva contains about 7% cabernet sauvignon.  The winery sources their grapes from 60 year-old vineyards within the Apalta region in the Colchagua Valley.

So how does the 2008 Gran Reserva stack up against the 2009 Reserva?  To put it simply – very well.  While we liked the Reserva, we love the Gran Reserva.  This is delicious wine.  The 2009 Reserva is dark and rich, and heavily extracted, and while the Envero is also dark, it doesn’t quite have the opaque plum color of its younger, less expensive sibling.  Give some credit to the additional year in the bottle, along with the cabernet for the deeper cherry red hue of this wine, as well as the much better integration of flavors and tannins.

On the nose the wine offers rich cherry, cassis and vanilla, laced with more complex, yet subtle hints of coffee and cola.   On the palate the wine offers abundant fruit, almost turning jammy, before the tannins and mild acidity tighten things up nicely for an enjoyable and lingering finish.  But more importantly, this wine possesses a special quality.  Now I’ve tasted or reviewed literally 1,000’s of wines over the years and while many of those wines were superlative, some lacked a simple, yet important quality – drinkability.

Yes, that’s right, I just pulled a descriptor from the Budweiser guide to taste-testing.  What the hell do I know, right?  But seriously, how many times have you consumed a highly extracted and tannic bombshell of a wine only to find that your tongue has knitted a wool sweater, preventing you from enjoying the wine any further.  Well, with the Envero, I found myself subconsciously pouring myself glass after glass, and enjoying every sip.  It’s why fine claret is still king – offering polished fruit with loads of character, but with finesse.  Envero hit the sweet spot with this wine, and Apaltagua is quickly becoming one of my favorite vintners from South America.

A  Salute!

Wine: Apaltagua Envero
Variety: Carménère (93%)
Vintage: 2008
Alcohol: 14%
Rating: 90
Price:  $15.00

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Disclosure: This wine was received as a sample.

A few weeks ago, I had an opportunity to take part in a Chilean wine tasting with several other wine bloggers around the country.  It was a virtual tasting, meaning that we were connected “virtually” not that we virtually tasted… we really did taste the wines.  But we were connected via a web conference with all the other bloggers participating and with the winemakers in Chile.  I’ve done a few of these before, and it’s always an interesting way to taste and learn about a few new wines.

The theme for this tasting was “cool climate reds,” which means red wines produced in cool climate regions.  You see, some grape varieties perform better with cool conditions versus hot.  And some just perform differently.  In this tasting, it was pinot noir and syrah.  Pinot noir is exclusively a cool climate variety, as too much heat ruins these grapes.  Syrah, on the other hand, can be produced in cool or warmer climates, but the results are different.

Some of the best wine growing regions are coastal, like Chile, and the cool, maritime influence is big part of what makes these regions good for growing wine grapes.  But there is a lot of variation in climate within these regions, creating some areas that are better, consistent cool climate regions as well as some warmer micro-climates.  For a number of years, Chile has had a good reputation for producing exceptional cool-climate white wines, but it’s really only been within the last five years or so that they’ve done well with cool-climate reds, like pinot noir.  And there’s certainly more to come.

Given the setting for this tasting, these were not tasted blind.  Here are my notes.

Valdivieso 2009 Pinot Noir Reserva

The nose is pretty powerful on this wine.  Spicy cherry and strawberry aromas are the first thing that stand out.  It also has some bacon fat and cola aromatics.  The palate provides a good amount of fruit, without being at all jammy.  It’s kind of a cherry/cranberry thing with a touch of smoked meat on the palate.  The acidity is just right and the soft tannins provide a nice mouth feel.  The finish is relatively long, with a strong cranberry note.

Wine: Valdivieso Reserva
Variety: Pinot Noir
Vintage: 2009
Alcohol: 14.5%
Rating: 88
Price:  $16.99

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Viña Casablanca 2009 Nimbus Estate Pinot Noir

This wine shows the smoky and spicy side of pinot noir on the nose, with nutmeg, cocoa, and toasted aromatics.  There’s some fruit under all that too, but the spice is what makes the music on this one.  Unfortunately, there’s also a touch of sulfur/egg on the nose, which isn’t a good thing, although it’s not overwhelming.  On the palate, the fruit comes out to play, offering plum and raspberry flavors.  But there’s plenty of spice on the palate, with a nice black pepper characteristic.  There’s some cocoa on the mid-palate too.  The acidity and tannins are good.  Aside from the sulfur, is a fun pinot.

Wine: Viña Casablanca Nimbus Estate
Variety: Pinot Noir
Vintage: 2009
Alcohol: 14%
Rating: 84
Price:  $19.99

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Veramonte 2009 Ritual Pinot Noir

This is a nice, earthy pinot noir with intense tree bark and truffle aromas.  It also shows plenty of cherry and a touch of cola fragrance.  The palate is filled with cherry and cranberry flavors with vibrant acidity.  The palate also gives a touch of spiciness. The tannins are slightly velvety in the mouth.  The finish is long, with lingering fruit and spice.  This is a great wine.

Wine: Veramonte Ritual
Variety: Pinot Noir
Vintage: 2009
Alcohol: 14%
Rating: 90
Price:  $19.99

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Cono Sur 2008 Ocio Pinot Noir

The nose of this wine is screaming with intensity.  The fruit on the nose is a bit darker than a lot of other pinot we’ve had, favoring cassis and blackberry.  There’s some red fruit in it too, cherry.  It has a nice smoky quality on the nose too, with notes of sandalwood and tobacco.  The palate offers concentrated cherry and blackberry flavors, with outstanding acidity.  It borders on jammy.  The finish is lasting with the powerful fruit and spice from the palate taking you for a long ride.  This is an exceptional, although somewhat pricey, wine.

Wine: Cono Sur Ocio
Variety: Pinot Noir
Vintage: 2008
Alcohol: 14%
Rating: 94
Price:  $65.00

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Tamaya 2009 Reserva Syrah

The first impression I got from the nose of this wine is bubblegum.  But it’s not overly sweet/artificial, there’s just a hint of that fragrance in the nose.  It also shows some red currant, pepto bismol and licorice aromas.  The palate has plenty of ripe cherry and raspberry flavors and a good bit of spice.

Wine: Tamaya Reserva
Variety: Syrah
Vintage: 2008
Alcohol: 13.5%
Rating: 86
Price:  $16.99

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Loma Larga 2006 Syrah

This wine has a nice, deep red color.  The nose is very earthy, with aromas of eucalyptus, leather, chocolate, grilled meat and raspberry.  The mouth feel is really nice.  Very velvety.  The palate offers loads of ripe blackberry and currant flavors, that are slightly jammy.  It gives a little white pepper kick in the mid palate and finishes with more of the fruit.  This wine is begging to be served with lamb.  I like this wine, but the eucalyptus aroma may be a turn off for some consumers.

Wine: Loma Larga
Variety: Syrah
Vintage: 2006
Alcohol: 14.5%
Rating: 89
Price:  $29.00

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Undurraga 2009 T.H. Syrah

The “T.H.” on the label of this wine, stands for “terroir hunter” and this is a single-vineyard syrah, produced with the goal of featuring the terroir in the expression of the wine.  The intensity on the nose of this wine is outstanding.  It has loads of red fruit, raspberry, cherry and red currants. It also has some black pepper and soy sauce characteristics adding to the complexity.  The palate has a vibrant acidity with concentrated cherry and raspberry flavors.  There’s plenty of spice on the palate of this one too.  It also has some soft tannins, rounding out the mouth feel.  It’s a tasty wine.

Wine: Undurraga T.H.
Variety: Syrah
Vintage: 2009
Alcohol: 13.5%
Rating: 90
Price:  $24.99

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Hacienda Araucano 2009 Reserva Syrah

Cherry, raspberry and grilled meat aromas make up the nose of this wine.  The intensity on the nose is good, but not overwhelming.  This is a big wine on the palate, filling every crevasse in your mouth with flavors.  Plum, chocolate and leather all combine to make a interesting palate.  The mouth feel is very good.  This is a big wine with a lot of flavor, but it’s not refined or integrated.  Still, it’s a tasty wine.

Wine: Hacienda Araucano Reserva
Variety: Syrah
Vintage: 2009
Alcohol: 14.5%
Rating: 86
Price:  $13.00

Disclosure: These wines were received as a sample.

We go through a lot of wine in our household.  Now before you get the wrong idea, let me add that it’s usually no more than a glass (roughly 6 – 8 ounces) a day.  But between my wife and me, we can easily consume about 4 – 5 bottles a week.  And as you can imagine, the neighbors just love to hang out at our place, particularly with all the great wine.  So 4 -5 bottles can easily turn into 8 – 9 a week.  That can add up, particularly if you like the expensive stuff.  But having a restaurant in the family has it’s advantages, and none better than being able to buy wine at wholesale!

So, recently we were running a little low, which prompted me to begin searching for good, high value reds to stock the cellar with.  My dad, who now handles all the wine buying duties at the restaurant, had actually just sampled the latest MontGras Cabernet, the 2009; and, he recommended that I pick up a case to replenish our stock.  So I splurged, solely on his recommendation, having not tasted the wine.  But I wasn’t too concerned.  I figured that if he thought is was good (and he has great taste), that, most importantly, my wife would love it.

So, as I finally got around to tasting the MontGras, and reviewing it here for Cheap Wine Ratings, I noticed that what was once a stock of nine bottles (MontGras Cabernet Sauvignon comes in a nine bottle case) was now only two!  Where did all the MontGras go?  Well, let’s just say my wife really loved it.  But how good was it really?  Let’s find out.

On the nose the MontGras offers rich currant, vanilla and traces of other black fruit, but I was also picking up heavy levels of must.  Is this what my wife was loving so much?  Or, could I have gotten the one corked bottle that’s presumably in every case.  Well before I began seriously doubting my wife’s taste in wine, the mustiness had cleared.  Maybe it was me.  Maybe there was some taint, but the wine wasn’t the worse for it after a bit of breathing.

On the palate the wine offers up fine, yet lush tannins with a deep dark fruit core on the mid-palate.  This fruit is cradled in roast coffee bean and peat, but it’s not harsh at all.  On the contrary, this is a very smooth wine for as much as it has going on.  The MontGras is actually quite complex, and offers great balance for the money.  Ok, now I know why my wife loved it so much.

The MontGras is a crowd pleaser.  It will provide something for those looking for some character and complexity, but it will also satisfy those who are looking for an easy drinking red, and quite nicely I might add.  Which reminds me.  I need to order another case.

A  Salute!

Wine: MontGras
Variety: Cabernet Sauvignon
Vintage: 2009
Alcohol: 14.5%
Rating: 88
Price:  $11.00

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If you aren’t familiar with carménère, that’s ok.  You’re probably not alone.  For a varietal that has spent much of the latter part of the 20^th century in obscurity, and often confused for Merlot, it’s making a nice comeback in some rather familiar places.  To get you caught up on who is doing some nice work with this classic old world varietal, and to get some further background on carménère, check out last year’s carménère round up.

The first thing you notice about Apaltagua’s latest offering is the dark, rich plum color, that is indicative of the varietal……and rather indicative of highly extracted Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot.  Indeed this value priced Chilean seems rich and heavily extracted in both appearance and nose.  The alcohol volume is relatively high compared to old-world examples of carménère.  At 14%, the wine isn’t lacking in power and structure.  Apaltagua sources their carménère from the Apalta Valley in Colchagua.  As we’ve stated here before, if you haven’t committed Colchagua to memory yet, we recommend that you add it to your list of trusted appellations.

On the nose, the wine offers up green tea and cedar with hints of dark berry and plum.  The nose is appealing and hardy, but does hint at being tannic and acidic, as the cedary notes can overwhelm the nasal cavity.  On the palate the wine starts out a bit earthy and herbaceous, like an old world claret, but soon the tannins and alcohol take over.

This wine has a wonderful mouth-feel in the mid-palate, one that I really enjoyed, but the finish disappoints a bit.  It feels a bit overwrought with the tannins in the finish, in particular, leaving a lingering, yet slightly astringent aftertaste.  Makes me wonder what a little more experience with this grape will bring Apaltagua, and what their blends utilizing carménère have in store.  The fruit is certainly there, but it gets masked a bit, and can leave the wine seeming somewhat angular and unripened.

For the money, you won’t find many wines with this level of power, extraction and complexity.  The wine offers a lot of character, but some of it’s traits can be off-putting, and aren’t for the faint of heart.  I enjoyed the wine, but then I can appreciate the style.  I offered a glass to my wife, the ultimate acid-test, and she did not care for it.  If you have some experience with carménère, and you like a heartier full-bodied style, I recommend that you try the Apaltagua Reserva, particularly with something grilled!

A  Salute!

Wine: Apaltagua
Variety: Carménère
Vintage: 2009
Alcohol: 14%
Rating: 87
Price:  $11.00

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Disclosure: This wine was received as a sample.

Continuing the theme of our last review, today we’re checking out a couple more sauvignon blancs from the Casablanca Valley region of Chile.  Both of these come from Quintay, which is a brand that was started by a group of Chilean wine producers all focused on cool climate wines.  Wine from Quintay come from the Casablanca and Leyda valleys, but these two both come from Casablanca.

The cool climate of Casablanca Valley helps these wines create lively tropical fruit flavors with crisp acidity.  The mineral characteristics also add to the complexity of these wines.

Quintay Clava Sauvignon Blanc 2009

Tropical fruit aromas abound from this wine, with plenty of grapefruit, lemon and mango.  It also has some of the classic cut grass that sauvignon blanc is often known for.  The palate offers exceptional acidity, with green apple, grapefruit and melon flavors.  It finishes with a salty minerality and crisp green apple acidity. This is a very nice sauvignon blanc.

Wine: Quintay Clava
Variety: Sauvignon Blanc
Vintage: 2009
Alcohol: 12.5%
Rating: 88
Price: $11.99

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Quintay Q Sauvignon Blanc 2009

This is an exciting and tropical sauvignon blanc on the nose, with loads of grapefruit, pineapple and a good bit of cut grass.  The acidity is exceptional and gives a real zing to the palate, which offers a whole mess of grapefruit flavor along with some apple and melon.  The mouthfeel is also very nice with this wine.  If you like a lively, tropical sauvignon blanc this one is outstanding.

Wine: Quintay Q
Variety: Sauvignon Blanc
Vintage: 2009
Alcohol: 12.5%
Rating: 91
Price: $15.99

Disclosure: These wines were received as a sample.