Tag Archives: Leyda Valley

Price: 11-15 bucks, Price: 16-20 bucks, Price: Over 20 bucks, Tasting Notes

Wines of Chile Terroir Master Class – Part 1: Sauvignon Blanc

2 Comments

Recently, I participated in the Wines of Chile blogger tasting Terroir Master Class. Fred Dexheimer led the tasting from Chile while sitting with and chatting up the winemakers. We bloggers followed along via video, twitter and a chat tool. It was great fun.

There were 3 wines in each of 4 flights: Sauvignon Blanc, Pinot Noir, Carmenere and Cabernet Sauvignon.  I’ll focus on each flight in a separate post, starting today with Sauvignon Blanc.

Wine #1

Viña Casablanca ‘Nimbus’ Single Vineyard

Grapes: 100% Sauvignon Blanc

Appellation: Casablanca Valley

Vintage: 2012

Price: $13

Nose full of gravel and citrus. High acid, green apple palate with some floral/herbal notes ending with a long, flinty finish. New World sap, but the overall impression manages to feel elegant. This wine drank nicely for almost a week after being opened.

 

Wine #2

San Pedro ‘1865’ Single Vineyard

Grapes: 100% Sauvignon Blanc

Appellation: Leyda Valley

Vintage: 2011

Price: $19

The funk has arrived! Pungent, vegetal nose – like grapefruit squeezed over grilled asparagus. Distinctive, for sure, but not the most pleasant for me on this night. The palate is more appealing: full-bodied, rounded and almost creamy, but retaining Sauvignon Blanc’s crispness. The flavors are melony and spicy. Reactions from the live-chatting bloggers varied from wow to whoa. This one grew on me.

 

Wine #3

Casa Silva ‘Cool Coast’

Grapes: 100% Sauvignon Blanc

Appellation: Colchagua Valley

Vintage: 2011

Price: $25

Pineapple & lime on the nose with a chalky character. Racy and full on the palate, continuing the bright pineapple theme, complimented by a rocky minerality and long finish. This is more one-note than the others (it’s like a pineapple lightsaber), but it’s a great note.

 

Overall verdict:

A fun flight. Shows the wide range of styles of Sauvignon Blanc that can come from the varied Chilean terroirs. The winner for me was the Nimbus (and the best value at $13), but overall I continue to be impressed with what Chile is doing with this variety.

Stay tuned for the next three flights. And in the meantime, if you haven’t tried a Chilean Sauvignon Blanc in a while, give one a try and let me know what you think.

Price: 10 bucks or less, Tasting Notes

Another Great Value Sauvignon Blanc from Chile

1 Comment

My cellar has been running low on everyday whites, so when I saw this bottle of Montes Sauvignon Blanc at Costco recently, I grabbed it. Chilean Sauvignon Blanc has impressed me in the past and Montes is a very reliable producer up and down the price scale. This wine is from their “Limited Selection” line and at $9.99, the price was right.

I unscrewed it tonight with a Meatless Monday dinner of pasta with fresh corn, grape tomatoes, garlic, scallions and parmesan.

Lots of parmesan.

Montes Sauvignon Blanc 2010 Leyda Valley

Producer

Grapes: 100% Sauvignon Blanc

Appellation: Leyda Valley (Chile)

Vineyards: Labeled as “Leyda Vineyard” — presumably a Montes-owned vineyard within the Leyda Valley appellation.

Vintage: 2010

Winemaking: no oak or malolactic fermentation

Alcohol: 13.5%

Price: I got it for $9.99 at Costco. Regular retail is around $15.

Tasting Notes: Crisp, lemon pith acidity cuts through the plump tropical fruit. It’s also got that green, fresh-cut grass character that I love in an SB, plus a bit of minerality at the core. It all comes together to give the sense of a wine teeming with lifeforce, like some magic elixir you could pour upon the earth in a moonlit glade and conjure an Ent. (OK, that was a weird reference).

Overall impression: I think this is a dynamite bottle of wine at $10. Great for a refreshing summer sipper to buy by the case. If you are Costco-deprived and you find it closer to $15, it’s still a good deal. VINEgeek approved. Strong B+

Free association:

Image credit: matildaben via Flickr

More info:

90 POINT ALERT: This wine was well-reviewed by the big publications, receiving a 91 from Wine & Spirits and a 90 from Wine Enthusiast.

 

Tasting Notes, Uncategorized

8 Sauvignon Blancs from Chile (#SBChile Roundup)

Leave a comment

I had the good fortune to participate in last Wednesday night’s Wines of Chile #SBChile online tasting, along with 50 other wine bloggers. The event brought together eight examples of 2009 Sauvignon Blanc from eight Chilean wineries. The host, Fred Dexheimer (@FredDexMS), led the tasting via video conference with the eight winemakers also on video. I liked this format, as it was nice to get to see and hear from the winemakers about their wines and have questions answered, though occasional technical difficulties meant I only heard about half of it.

What about the wine? I was very excited to be able to taste eight different bottles from the same grape variety and same region. And, as you’ll see, I came away pretty impressed with what Chile can do with Sauvignon Blanc.

(Note: all wines were provided as samples by Wines of Chile)

Below are my thoughts on each wine:

Wine #1: Veramonte Sauvignon Blanc Reserva 2009 Casablanca Valley ($10.99)

This reasonably priced and widely available bottle is crisp and fresh with a citrusy nose, and palate to match. A touch of minerality, too. C+

Free association:

—

Wine #2: Ventisquero Queulat Sauvignon Blanc 2009 Casablanca Valley ($17.00)

This wine serves up the greener side of Sauvignon Blanc on the nose, with vegetal and grassy aromas, while the palate is very mineral-driven and steely. Very lean (read: little fruit). C

Free association:

—

Wine #3: Underraga T.H. Sauvignon Blanc 2009 Leyda Valley ($15.99 – $16.99)

The T.H. stands for Terroir Hunter, so I love it already. There is an enjoyable green pepper and fresh-cut jalapeno note on the nose of this wine. Then the palate delivers a rounder mouthfeel (perhaps from it’s battonage regime) and a fruitier flavor profile than the first two, with melon predominating. B

Free association:

—

Wine #4: Valdivieso Single Vineyard Wild Fermented Sauvignon Blanc 2009 Leyda Valley ($21.99)

There was something amiss with this bottle. Oxidized aromas and flavors. I assumed I got a bad bottle, but most of the other bloggers had similar reactions. After the session, I got a note from the organizers saying there may have been some issues with bottle variation and another bottle would be sent to me. So I will wait until I get a chance to taste that before posting more on this bottle.

—

Wine #5: Santa Rita Medalla Real Sauvignon Blanc 2009 Leyda Valley ($19.99)

A fellow blogger (whose name I have lost) nailed the nose on this bottle as tomato vine. Once he/she made that comment, that’s all I could smell. In the mouth the wine is aggressive with grapefruit flavors and a tart/bitter finish. There’s something a little “beer-y” about it too. B/B-

Free association:

—
Wine #6:  Cono Sur Organic Sauvignon Blanc 2009 San Antonio Valley ($13.00)

After a very closed nose, the Cono Sur attacks your mouth with a laserbeam of limeade and a hint of residual sugar. It feels like it explodes in the mouth. In my notes I wrote, “It’s aliiiiiive!” The slightly bitter backend actually helps resolve the explosive palate presence. Definitely a wine I could see serving at a party. B

Free association:

—

Wine #7: Haras de Pirque ‘Haras Estate’ Sauvignon Blanc 2009 Maipo Valley ($12.00)

My first thought on the nose was herb-roasted chicken skin – and not as a pairing. The subtle, savory nose makes way for a lively palate with tart citrus notes and white peach. A slightly chalky finish. The most Loire-like bottle of the evening and, for me, the best value. Good luck finding an SB with this balance and, dare I say, elegance at $12 from California or France. B/B+

Free association:

—

Wine #8: Casa Silva Cool Coast Paredones Estate Sauvignon Blanc 2009 Colchagua Valley ($22.99)

This wine offers an inviting tart pineapple nose then smashes you over the head with a tangy, zingy tropical palate. Truly vibrant, the fruit is underscored by a rocky minerality that I love. My favorite of the night. B+

Free Association:

—

Overall, I’d buy 4 out of 8 of these wines (and 1 was probably a bad bottle, so 4 out of 7). That’s a damn good ratio, in my book. I don’t know that I could peg a specific style that captures all these wines. Some were closer to the New Zealand style while others were more French or Californian. Either way, I will definitely be paying more attention to Chilean Sauvignon Blanc in the future.

—

Other blogger posts about this event are below. (If I missed yours let me know and I’ll add it.)

DrinkNectar

Under the Grape Tree

WineMcGee

Bottle Report (lots of detail on the wines here)

—

Image credits:
(1) http://www.flickr.com/photos/rakka/ / CC BY-NC-ND 2.0

(3) http://www.flickr.com/photos/25904307@N08/ / CC BY-NC-SA 2.0

(5) http://www.flickr.com/photos/dixieroadrash/ / CC BY-NC-SA 2.0