Name: Casa Silva
Country: Colchagua Valley, Chile
Grape(s): Semillon & Gewurztraminer
Vintage: (Late Harvest) 2007
Colour: clear, medium intensity, golden colour
Smell: This was a clean, light and fruity flavour. The first aromas were like a fruit cocktail aroma with a strong pineapple scent. A deeper insight into this smell we picked up vanilla and cream. Great scent overall and quite appealling that my mouth was beginning to water.
Taste: This was a sweet, low acidic light bodied flavour. Its flavour spoke volumes of honey, caramel, candy even a light port interpretation. If you have heard of a drink called Irn Bru (an export from Scotland) it really tasted like that. The length of this wine was short.
Conclusion: An acceptable wine. It had been a long time since I had drunk a dessert wine and so it was a pleasant reintroduction. I was very surprised by the differences between the scents and the flavours. I was expecting a fruiter/floral base and was shocked to taste more sweeter flavours. We opened this bottle with the intention of enjoying it while we sat and enjoyed the evening however, it clearly was too sweet to be a bottle we were about to finish, so we stop drinking it. If we had been enjoying a dessert, maybe a chocolate moose, fruit cake or a nice creme brullee this would have been a very complimentry drink.
WINEDEX: 6 out of 10.
Final comments: Sweet wines are very much a personal preference. This was the first sweet wine I had from Chile and I it could definately stand on its own. Again Chile does a great job at presenting a great wine. Chile is definately a great wine producer and I look forward to trying a lot more.
Showing posts with label Chile. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Chile. Show all posts
Sunday, December 20, 2009
Thursday, April 9, 2009
2008 Chilean, Central Valley, Cabernet Sauvignon
Name: Sunrise
Country: Chile
Grape(s): Cabernet Sauvignon
Vintage: 2008
Colour: a beautiful dark crimson colour that smiles when the light catches it…its really pretty.
Smell: This wine has a number of aroma levels to it. On first impressions it speaks volumes of black pepper spiceness but as the aroma develops in your nose you begin to capture fruit hints of black berries and plums. I even picked up a mild buttery scent…this was quite a bouquet of scents.
Taste: This was an off dry, low acidity, low tannin light bodied wine. Its flavours were set in black pepper and black berries. The length of the drink was short but the after taste was delicate and pretty.
Conclusion: A good wine.
WINDEX: 7 out of 10.
Final Comments: I really liked this cabernet sauvignon. It was a pleasure to drink and completely glugable. I would really recommend this. The label spoke of notes of chocolate but I couldn't taste it....I guess it depends on who's chocolate you are comparing the tast with. I think its one of those wines that if you didn’t know what to buy and you saw this brand and grape then you know you were being safe and would happily serve it up at a party. IN addition to that they price well. They are not overally expensive. This is the second variety from Sun Rise vineyard from Chile. I am really impressed with all their characteristics. I look forward to tasting their Merlot and thier Chardonnay.
According to their website this is 90% Cabernet Sauvignon, 10% Carmenere. The Merlot has a similiar consistency with 90% Merlot and 10% Carmenere.
Country: Chile
Grape(s): Cabernet Sauvignon
Vintage: 2008
Colour: a beautiful dark crimson colour that smiles when the light catches it…its really pretty.
Smell: This wine has a number of aroma levels to it. On first impressions it speaks volumes of black pepper spiceness but as the aroma develops in your nose you begin to capture fruit hints of black berries and plums. I even picked up a mild buttery scent…this was quite a bouquet of scents.
Taste: This was an off dry, low acidity, low tannin light bodied wine. Its flavours were set in black pepper and black berries. The length of the drink was short but the after taste was delicate and pretty.
Conclusion: A good wine.
WINDEX: 7 out of 10.
Final Comments: I really liked this cabernet sauvignon. It was a pleasure to drink and completely glugable. I would really recommend this. The label spoke of notes of chocolate but I couldn't taste it....I guess it depends on who's chocolate you are comparing the tast with. I think its one of those wines that if you didn’t know what to buy and you saw this brand and grape then you know you were being safe and would happily serve it up at a party. IN addition to that they price well. They are not overally expensive. This is the second variety from Sun Rise vineyard from Chile. I am really impressed with all their characteristics. I look forward to tasting their Merlot and thier Chardonnay.
According to their website this is 90% Cabernet Sauvignon, 10% Carmenere. The Merlot has a similiar consistency with 90% Merlot and 10% Carmenere.
Tuesday, April 7, 2009
Chile, Central Valley, Sun Rise, Sauvignon Blanc, 2008
Name: Sunrise
Country: Chile
Grape(s): Sauvignon Blanc
Vintage: 2008
Colour: clear crispy lemon colour…..
Smell: A real clean fresh scent, which is light and airy. You get an instant hit of citrus flavours – lemon and grapefruit were my first thoughts. This developed into aromas of nettles, pineapple and gooseberries. But there is another level to this and I could pick up hints of black pepper.
Taste: Very dry and quite acidic. The flavour was more on the light side and was very much a citrus taste. Lemons and grapefruit were very pronounced and then hints of gooseberries.
Conclusion: A good wine.
WINEDEX: 6 out of 10.
Final Comments: Unless you really really enjoy the citrus sharp flavours then I think you are on to a winner with this one. It had all the classic signs of a young Sauvignon Blanc. What you smelt is what you tasted however, I didn’t taste any pepperiness which I picked up on when I was smelling it. I would highly recommend that you drunk this ice cold as I felt that has the bottle warmed up the flavour became a bit denser and the citrus flavour was not so entertaining anymore.
Country: Chile
Grape(s): Sauvignon Blanc
Vintage: 2008
Colour: clear crispy lemon colour…..
Smell: A real clean fresh scent, which is light and airy. You get an instant hit of citrus flavours – lemon and grapefruit were my first thoughts. This developed into aromas of nettles, pineapple and gooseberries. But there is another level to this and I could pick up hints of black pepper.
Taste: Very dry and quite acidic. The flavour was more on the light side and was very much a citrus taste. Lemons and grapefruit were very pronounced and then hints of gooseberries.
Conclusion: A good wine.
WINEDEX: 6 out of 10.
Final Comments: Unless you really really enjoy the citrus sharp flavours then I think you are on to a winner with this one. It had all the classic signs of a young Sauvignon Blanc. What you smelt is what you tasted however, I didn’t taste any pepperiness which I picked up on when I was smelling it. I would highly recommend that you drunk this ice cold as I felt that has the bottle warmed up the flavour became a bit denser and the citrus flavour was not so entertaining anymore.
Wednesday, December 3, 2008
Chile - Villard - Merlot - 2006
Name: Villard
Country: Chile, Casablanca Valley
Grape(s): Merlot
Vintage: 2006
Colour: Dark ruby colour
Smell: Lots of things happening here. I found it fruity, yet spicy and vegetable levels of the aroma and then a buttery scent would also come through. It was quite pronounced aromas which made me think that this would be a much heavier merlot.
Taste: Dry, medium acidity, medium tannins with a long length. As predicted it was a heavy merlot with lots of body but still tasted velvety. Its thicker denser body made it very smooth and not a rough wine.
Conclusion: An good wine
WINEDEX: 8 out of 10
Final comments: Well we couldn’t hold out too long challenging a Uruguayan Merlot to a Chile merlot. Both very distinct flavours. I really liked this merlot I loved the full body of this wine and really fancied a nice piece of steak to go with it. This was my type of merlot and thoroughly enjoyed drinking it.
If I was to compare them, well they were very different. You could tell that the Chilean merlot came from a cooler climate and the Uruguay was from a warmer climate.
We intend to challenge a few merlots from this region …so let’s see how that goes down. Watch this space.
Country: Chile, Casablanca Valley
Grape(s): Merlot
Vintage: 2006
Colour: Dark ruby colour
Smell: Lots of things happening here. I found it fruity, yet spicy and vegetable levels of the aroma and then a buttery scent would also come through. It was quite pronounced aromas which made me think that this would be a much heavier merlot.
Taste: Dry, medium acidity, medium tannins with a long length. As predicted it was a heavy merlot with lots of body but still tasted velvety. Its thicker denser body made it very smooth and not a rough wine.
Conclusion: An good wine
WINEDEX: 8 out of 10
Final comments: Well we couldn’t hold out too long challenging a Uruguayan Merlot to a Chile merlot. Both very distinct flavours. I really liked this merlot I loved the full body of this wine and really fancied a nice piece of steak to go with it. This was my type of merlot and thoroughly enjoyed drinking it.
If I was to compare them, well they were very different. You could tell that the Chilean merlot came from a cooler climate and the Uruguay was from a warmer climate.
We intend to challenge a few merlots from this region …so let’s see how that goes down. Watch this space.
Friday, November 14, 2008
Chile - Paso del Sol - Valle Central - Carmenere 2007
This was one of those..."never seen - need to try" bottles. I had never heard of the Carmenere Grape so I thought I would give it a whirl.
Appearance
it has a beautiful deep crimson colour and looks like it could be quite full bodied round flavour.
Nose
It smells not too intense but definately has a number of different aromas going on. I could smell cherries, but at the same time at a very vegetal/spicy flavour. It kind of reminded me of a Cabernet Savgignon variety
Taste
- it was a off dry flavour and felt kind of velvety and smooth in my mouth.
- it had low acidity flavours (it didn't have the sensation of the opal fruit sweets)
- it was low in tannin (it didn't make my mouth feel at all furry)
- I was expecting a rich heavy flavour but infact it was more of a medium flavour
- it didnt have much length but the flavour just didn't disappear so I am going to go with medium cos it did hang around a bit.
- It kind of went through a number of flavours, my first thoughts were cherries, black berries type fruit but as I drunk more the flavour became more spicy sort of black pepper and it was also a bit veggy - I couldn't identify a vegetable so I would say it was quite an earthy flavour....not so bad that you felt you were eating the ground..it was nice.
I had never head this grape variety before but I would buy it again...its very similar to a Cabernet sauvignon but from reading up on it it seems to get mixed up with the merlot variety. I disagree I think its more cabernet savgignon than merlot.
I thoroughly enjoyed this bottle. We had a roast beef dinner with it and it was a good match. roast vegetables really matched well with this Carmenere grape. I would recommend this grape variety for sure and I will be looking out of more of it ..... It wasn't that expensive either. I can't remember the exact price but it was around Dhs. 30 - 40 which is a nice price. So, cant find a cabernet then try this ......its stands on it own and had made a great impression on its first introduction... But once again a fantastic wine from Chile....they are unstoppable this chilean wines...
Want to know more about this grape then visit Carmenere Wine on Wikipedia which talks about it in greater detail. It has French origins but is extinct in France and primarily grown in Chile now.
Appearance
it has a beautiful deep crimson colour and looks like it could be quite full bodied round flavour.
Nose
It smells not too intense but definately has a number of different aromas going on. I could smell cherries, but at the same time at a very vegetal/spicy flavour. It kind of reminded me of a Cabernet Savgignon variety
Taste
- it was a off dry flavour and felt kind of velvety and smooth in my mouth.
- it had low acidity flavours (it didn't have the sensation of the opal fruit sweets)
- it was low in tannin (it didn't make my mouth feel at all furry)
- I was expecting a rich heavy flavour but infact it was more of a medium flavour
- it didnt have much length but the flavour just didn't disappear so I am going to go with medium cos it did hang around a bit.
- It kind of went through a number of flavours, my first thoughts were cherries, black berries type fruit but as I drunk more the flavour became more spicy sort of black pepper and it was also a bit veggy - I couldn't identify a vegetable so I would say it was quite an earthy flavour....not so bad that you felt you were eating the ground..it was nice.
I had never head this grape variety before but I would buy it again...its very similar to a Cabernet sauvignon but from reading up on it it seems to get mixed up with the merlot variety. I disagree I think its more cabernet savgignon than merlot.
WINDEX: 9 out of 10.
I thoroughly enjoyed this bottle. We had a roast beef dinner with it and it was a good match. roast vegetables really matched well with this Carmenere grape. I would recommend this grape variety for sure and I will be looking out of more of it ..... It wasn't that expensive either. I can't remember the exact price but it was around Dhs. 30 - 40 which is a nice price. So, cant find a cabernet then try this ......its stands on it own and had made a great impression on its first introduction... But once again a fantastic wine from Chile....they are unstoppable this chilean wines...
Want to know more about this grape then visit Carmenere Wine on Wikipedia which talks about it in greater detail. It has French origins but is extinct in France and primarily grown in Chile now.
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