A Gold Medal For Chile

O.K.  So, it’s time to start posting again after learning more about navigating the blogosphere.  Been having much fun watching the Olympics and enjoying wine as an accompaniment to the games.  My daughter asked me while watching what I thought the best thing about TV was while we were enjoying some figure skating.  I told her the best thing for me was that it brings the world into our family room.  The Olympics, news, culture shows, history shows, and the occasional Modern Family.  That got me to thinking about wine, as I had a glass of a nice Chilean wine in my hand when her inquisitive question blurted out.  The best thing about wine for me, other than the obvious, is it brings the world into our family room.  Wine is produced on almost every Continent from so many regions and climates and we can get a taste of those far away places while enjoying whatever activities we are engaged in in our hometowns.  So, here’s what I was enjoying:

Yali - Cabernet-Carmenere 2008  ($8) ♥♥♥ From the Vina Ventisquero (www.ventisquero.com).  Yali is made from grapes grown in the Rapel Valley region of Chile.  Rapel Valley is in the central growing region of Chile just south of Santiago and close to the pacific.  This wine is a nice pairing of Cabernet and Carmenere (kar-ma-nair-uh).  I’ll post some info on Carmenere in the Wine Education category.  It’s a wonderfully bold grape when handled correctly by the winemaker with an interesting past and voyage.  Don’t let the 2008 vintage scare you, as South America is a whole half year ahead of us in harvesting their vintages.  Remember, it’s summer down there now and early harvest will begin soon (usually August for Napa).  This wine was very drinkable with bold character (especially for the price).  The Carmenere gives it a bold red color,  nice hint of spice (think pepper), some hint of tobacco on the nose and a bit of a smokey note.  The Cabernet imparts some nice, softer tannins (that somewhat astringent mouthfeel from a bold red), but still that boldness and hint of currant you expect from Cabernet.  I enjoyed it enough that I decided to try the Sauvignon Blanc, which by all accounts didn’t disappoint.  It had all the qualities I like in a Sauvignon Blanc, some grapefruit flavors (but not too much), citrus notes on the nose, good mineral characteristics (best described as the flavors the grape derives from the soil it’s grown in) and a crisp mouth-feel.  Both very approachable wines that deliver beyond their price.