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NEW MEMBER FOR CONO SUR SUPER PREMIUM WINES
I had the chance to visit Chile for the second time in September-October 2009. 3 weeks of traveling, discovering, meeting wonderful people, tasting hundreds of wines, from ‘pretty drinkable but not really collectable’ to really fantastic wines. Everyone who drinks Chilean wine will have his favorite type of wines. So do I. I am not only looking just drinking pleasure and easy enjoyment in a glass of wine. I want just a little bit more. The wine has to tell me something, a nice story about where it actually comes from. It has to be different, not one of the many technically very well made clones of a classical European wine. I do not mind people making wines from pinot noir or syrah in Chile. But the wine have to tell me it comes from Chile and not from Burgundy or the French Rhone Valley. During my stay in Chile, I had the chance to visit CONO SUR winery and fantastic old colonial manor in Chimbarongo, Colchagua Valley. After a nice chat with the very charming Claudia Pfau, we went for a tasting of 17 of their wines.
As I wrote before, everyone will have his favorite wines. I was not really impressed by the Bio Bio sparkling wine brut. Not bad at all, but just not really my type of wine. I did like the Organic San Antonio sauvignon blanc 2009 , but it had a little bit too much pyrazine for me, may be because the vines are still a little bit too young? I preferred the Organic San Antonio chardonnay 2009. The 20 Barrels Casablanca sauvignon blanc 2008 was very enjoyable, fresh, fruity, juicy and quite concentrated. The 20 Barrels Casablanca chardonnay 2007 reminded me – may be a little bit too much – a white Burgundy, quite oaky (but elegant), creamy, buttery, nutty… Not bad at all but not really ‘different’. The Reserva line was very well made, but not really surprising. The Colchagua carmenere (85%)-syrah (13%)-cabernet sauvignon (2%) rosé 2008 was quite nice, the Casablanca gewurztraminer 2009 pretty gastronomic, the Bio Bio riesling 2008 really nice and the Colchagua viognier 2008… well, as I said during the tasting, a very nice white wine, very well made, but I would not buy it as a viognier. Then, we tasted 3 pinot noir. The Organic Colchagua pinot noir 2008 was classic, very pinot noir, but to my humble opinion a little bit too warm (alcohol) in the finish. The 20 Barrels Casablanca pinot noir 2007 was much fresher, with good fruit and a long final. Pretty good! The Ocio Casablanca pinot noir 2007 was simply G-R-E-A-T… This is more what I look for… Fantastic in balance, good fruit, fresh, perfectly integrated oak, long aftertaste, slightly mineral… I loved it!
At last, we tasted 5 more red wines. Very enjoyable Organic Colchagua cabernet-carmenere 2008 (quite complex, well-balanced, juicy, well-structured, soft finish). The Reserva Colchagua carmenere 2008 was good, full of ripe fruit, fresh, with good tannins. The 20 Barrels Colchagua merlot 2007 needed much more air: nice ripe fruit, good tannins, but a little too much ‘toasty’ for me at that moment. The 20 Barrels Maipo cabernet sauvignon 2007 was really beautiful: mineral, fruity, full-bodied, juicy, with a long finish. Just before, we tasted a ‘new wine’, a fantastic 20 Barrels Limari syrah 2008: complex, intense, fruity, mineral, juicy, creamy, round, spicy, with good tannins and a long, slightly toasty chocolate finish. Wow! I really loved this one too.
This last one, the new member of the Cono Sur Premium Wines family, the 20 BARRELS LIMITED EDITION LIMARI SYRAH 2008 has been release in January 2010. Go for it, it’s worth any peso!
MY FAVORITE CONO SUR WINES:
OCIO CASABLANCA PINOT NOIR 2007
20 BARRELS LIMITED EDITION CASABLANCA PINOT NOIR 2007
20 BARRELS LIMITED EDITION LIMARI SYRAH 2008
20 BARRELS LIMITED EDITION MAIPO CABERNET SAUVIGNON 2007
The 20 BARRELS & OCIO wine cellar,
fortunately not damaged by the earthquake!
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