Wine tastings are a great way to figure out what you like and don’t like and even better is going to a tasting that has an educational component. Mike and I attended a seminar on the Wines of Chile where we tasted ten wines all from Chile and each represented a denomination of origin. Chile is only 123 miles and the altitude goes from 0 to 23,000 feet in that short distance, which means the climate is great for almost every type of wine!
All of the wines that we tasted were from the Santa Ema winery that was established in 1931. The first wine poured was a Select Terroir Sauvignon Blanc, this retail for about $8.99 and has notes of apricot, granny smith apple and has a mineral taste. I was one of the few at the table that actually liked this wine!
Wine number two was the Amplus Sauvignon Blanc that retails for $19.99 and has hints of lemon, fleur de sel and thistle flower. Sounds like an odd combination but it was very refreshing! Everyone at the table liked this one much better.
Wine number three was probably my least favorite of the evening. I am not a big fan of Chardonnay and this was was very oaky with flavors of banana and pineapple. The Chardonnay retails for $8.99.
Since they were pouring samples of ten wines the group was nice enough to feed us some appetizers from Ruths Chris. These were better than any appetizers I have ever had at a wine tasting.
After a nice snack we were on to wine number 4 which was a Chardonnay Reserve that retails for $13.99. The chardonnay was aged for 7 months and was very light and crisp. even the instructor held up wines one and two to show how different the color can be.
Between wines the instructor went through a very detailed presentation about each of the regions and gave us great detail about how each regions climate impacted what wines could be grown there. Learning about the regions gave me respect for just how hard those small family owned wineries have to work! The first red we tried was a Select Terroir Cabernet that had only 40% of it aged, at $8.99 it was definitely a great every day wine.
Our second red was a $13.99 Cabernet Reserve that was aged for 9 months and had very noticeable flavors of black currant and fig.
One of the more unique wines was a Carmenere that retails for $11.99 and was spicy and would pair well with grilled meat and peppers.
My favorite wine was the Amplus One which was a mixture of carmereere, syrah and carignan. A very strong aroma of red and black cherries and at a price point of $24.99 I really enjoyed this one.
The Amplus old vines Carignan is aged for 18 months in oak and has very intense fruit and spice smells. At $29.99 a bottle is seems more like a special occasion wine. Unfortunately this wine went so fast I didn’t even get a picture! They saved the most expensive wine for last and at $99 for a 6 pack it is pretty pricey! The Rivalta is a blend of carmenere, cabernet sauvignon, and syrah and is aged for 20 months in new French oak.
The Chilean wineries are doing a great job of getting their name out there and telling everyone just how great their wines are! I love the logo they are using, simple but shows you just how diverse the wine making is.
Next time you are picking up wine try something from Chile!
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