Incredibly bright never-seen-in-nature shades of red, yellow and blue suddenly appear on people who would normally never be seen in anything but Armani. I looked on North Face’s website and you can get neutral colours such as black or something they call bipartisan brown, but nope, everyone is in luminous green. Just because they feel as though they are being outdoorsy and walking along a coastal path, they think that colour co-ordination can be abandoned. Taste can be abandoned.
I know that these jackets are supposed to be bright if they are being used for mountaineering. If you fall off a cliff and break your leg you don’t want to blend in with the scenery, you want to clash horrifically so the rescue helicopter can find you. However the chances of needing the RAF search and rescue chopper if you are walking along the Fife coast is slim to nil. These bright Gore-Tex items of clothing are not only lacking taste, but they are in the totally wrong place. They should be on Ben Nevis, not in Anstruther.
And this leads me onto Chilean wine. I remember reading a book by a leading wine critic that said “the problem with Chile is that all of the vines are in the wrong places” which would indicate that the winemakers haven’t got the hang of making the wine that works with the climate and the terroir. It doesn’t matter if you have old vines if the Pinot Noir is planted in a place far too hot and the grapes get baked or if the Syrah is too cold and cannot ripen properly. You will only produce average wines at best.
Maybe it is this reason that quite often, I find Chilean wine as tasteless, boring, commercial wine. It may taste of the grape written on the label, and be punter friendly, but it is always going to be bettered by a wine from somewhere else that works with the terroir. It is rare that you will see a wine critic putting a wine from Chile on their “great wines” lists, yet this country’s wines are incredibly popular, as it would appear are brightly coloured jackets. I’ve never understood Chilean wines and never really liked that many, so I went to the Wines of Chile tasting with an open mind, determined to find something that would impress me and convince me that Chile is a producer of great wine.
Starting off with a white Pedro Ximinez probably wasn’t the best plan. The 2010 Vina Falernia Elki Pedro Ximinez was a simple wine on the nose, a touch of citrus but that was it. Then the palate kicked in and it was acidic, lots of lime juice and that was pretty much it. 4/10 (£6.99 Enotria). Onwards I progressed to Gewurztraminer and the 2009 Carmen Gewurztraminer Reserva. It had sweet tropical fruit and rosewater on the nose, and showed promise. This wine from Casablanca had a nettle element on the palate, some chilli peppers and then lots more rose on the palate. A bit fat on the finish, but a pleasant drink. 6/10 (£8.99 Hallgarten Druitt & Novum Wines)
The next table was Sauvignon Blanc, and this is where so many people claim is Chile’s strength. I’m not so certain, as a lot of what I tried tasted like flour! Having said that though, four wines stood out. The first was the 2010 Errazuriz Estate Sauvignon Blanc from Aconcagua. Despite being from a big brand, this had a lovely green gooseberry and elderflower aroma with some floral notes on the citrus palate. It isn’t a great wine but a very good example of Sauvignon from Chile. 8/10 (£8.99 Hatch Mansfield). The second good wines was the 2010 Nostros Sauvignon Blanc Reserva from Casablanca. A softer, less vibrant nose than the Errazuriz, but so easy drinking and fruit driven. 7/10 (£6.49 Alliance Wine). The next two wines stood out for the wrong reasons. The 2009 De Gras Sauvignon Blanc Reserva from Leyda was horrific. It stank and was far too acidic and alcoholic 2/10 (£7.99 Enotria) and the 2007 Amayna Barrel Fermented Sauvignon Blanc, also from Leyda, had far too much sulphur on the nose and was very fat and flabby on the palate with no taste other than oak 1/10 (£18.99 Alliance Wine).
Chardonnay too is a grape that should be able to be grown well, and two stood out as shining examples. The 2010 Los Espinos Chardonnay (£5.99 Alliance Wine) was bright, vibrant with honeysuckle aromas, then a clean citrus and tropical fruit palate that was well balanced. Worth more than its price point. 8/10. The second wine was the 2010 Echeverria Unwooded Chardonnay. With a burgundian-esque label, this wine was fresh, clean with lovely citrus aromas, and a grapefruit pith flavour mixed with mango and pineapple. A great wine. 8/10 (£7.99 Hallgarten Druitt & Novum Wines)
The next wine to grab my attention was another Hallgarten wine, the 2009 Oveja Negra Winemakers Selection Sauvignon Blanc Carmenere. I’m familiar with the Oveja Negra label from its days being represented by Bibendum, but now they have stopped producing their entry level wines and are moving up a price point. This blend of red and white grapes is really interesting. It has hints of sweet fruit and elderflower up front with pears and honey notes. There is a Gewurztraminer like element coming through on the palate, but then you notice red berries emerge – obviously coming from the 15% Carmenere. A really interesting wine from the Maule. 7.5/10 (£7.99 Hallgarten Druitt & Novum Wines).
Pinot Noir – so often done and so often done badly, and at best, the wines on show were of moderate quality. The 2010 Nostros Pinot Noir was confected with sweet bubblegum flavours , 4/10 (£6.49 Alliance Wine), the 2008 Vina Litoral Ventolera Pinot Noir (£10.99 Hallgarten Druitt & Novum Wines) was very polished on the nose but far too try hard, very polished with a jammy palate, 4/10, and the 2009 Punto Alto Pinot Noir from Casablanca was rubbery, although it did have nice flavours, it was too alcoholic and expensive. 5/10 (£16.99 Liberty Wines). The only saving grace was the 2009 Vina Leyda Las Brisas Pinot Noir, that had a herby, sweet fruit palate with a meaty element. A bit too much alcohol but integrated well enough and clean on the finish. But at £13.49 this wine from Enotria was too pricy.
The selection of Carmenere was much better. Liberty Wines’ 2009 Chocalan Carmenere Seleccion was quite vegetal with lots of blackened peppers mixed with liquorice and brambles. There was a black pudding element on the palate that was quite tasty, and more liquorice coming later. For some strange reason, I think it was the combination of blood pudding and liquorice, my mind wandered to the Roald Dahl book, Boy, where his friend Thwaites tells him that liquorice is made of squashed rats! Anyway, at £8.99, this is a decent wine. 7/10. But it was usurped by the 2009 Odfjell Armador Carmenere that is a lovely wine. Smoky tea with meaty aromas and a blackberry and liquorice palate. Lots of coffee on the finish of this thick, viscous wine. 8/10 (£8.99 Alliance Wine).
I’m going to express a prejudice now. I tend to get a smell of Pig poop from Chilean Merlot. It is my least favourite grape/region pairing in the world – even more than South African Pinotage – as I know that Merlot can be great whereas all Pinotage is rubbish. I tried the 2009 De Gras Merlot Reserva and it was soapy, sweet and poopy on the nose with a confected bubblegum flavour. It was awful. 2/10 (£7.99 Enotria). Having said that, there were two Merlots that stuck out as decent wines. The 2008 Echeverria Merlot Reserva from Curico had ripe, sweet, creamy fruit. The palate is nice, gutsy with firm tannin, but an Amarone like fruit flavour all the way to the finish. It was dark, tarry and concentrated and for £9.99 it was super. 8/10 (Hallgarten Druitt & Novum Wines). The other star was the 2009 Los Espinos Merlot was light, cherry flavoured but with incredible freshness. A bit tannic at first, but lovely crisp, clean fruit. A lighter style that was welcomed. 8/10 (£5.99 Alliance Wines).
The Cabernets were mediocre so I’ll pass by them, and onto a Carignan. Again from Hallgarten, the 2008 Oveja Negra Single Vineyard Carignan was full of sweet fruit, blueberry jam aromas, with a dark, silky and savoury palate. A decent wine but a touch expensive. 7/10 (£10.99). There was also one Syrah that stood out, the 2007 Odfjell Armador Syrah, a peppered steak fest of a wine with silky, soft fruit and bundles of leather, pepper and chocolate. 8/10 (£8.99 Alliance Wine).
And that brings me onto the final wine of the day, and it was the best I tried. The 2007 Ninquen. A blend of 65% Syrah and 35% Cabernet Sauvignon from Colchagua, this wine was a super balance of sweet fruit, dried figs with chocolate notes with rosemary and violets. Firm tannin, but balanced by the chunky fruit that came on the palate. 8.5/10 (£17.99 Enotria).
I’m still unconvinced that Chile can produce top end wine. Sure, I tried some very good wines, but also a huge selection of mediocre bottles. What I didn’t try was a truly great wine, and that is purely down to Wines of Chile. They didn’t show a single wine over £20 and if this organization wants to promote their nation, they need to show the best to wow the tasters. It would appear that the Maule is good for Carignan, so putting a higher quality wine from this region would impress the taster and show them that the Oveja Negra Carignan is only the entry level of a great Carignan producing region, but there wasn’t that higher level representative. Similarly, Maipo is producing a pair of good sub £10 Carmeneres, so why not show a £20 or £30 alternative to say “if you think those two wins from Odfjell and Chocalan are good, this is fantastic.”
I know that most wines from Chile that are consumed in the UK are cheap, and I found a good number of wines that I will list in my shop. What I didn’t find was a great wine, and that is something Chile needs to promote too if they are to join the big boys of Italy, France and Australia. We don’t just want the bright yellow GoreTex, we need to see the Armani too.
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