Muy Gusto Wines of Chile

Today I enjoyed the wines from more than 3o Chilean wineries at the Sutton Place Hotel in downtown Vancouver. There was a range of red and white wines from the northern region of Limari down to the south in Bio Bio. There was Chile's signature grape, Carmenere at many of the agents tables, but also a wide variety of other varietals. Cabernet Sauvignon is the most widely planted red grape, followed by Merlot, then Carmenere. For the whites, Sauvignon Blanc is the most widely planted white grape followed by Chardonnay then Moscatel of Alexandria. One interesting varietal that I tried today was a Sauvignon Gris from Cousino Macul. I was told that this is the only Sauvignon Gris being offered in BC. This grape is a "lost" Bordeaux varietal that was brought to Chile before phylloxera infected the vines in France. This wine I believe was sur lie, as I detected some lees as well as lemon on the nose. It was a light bodied wine, with light acidity and peach flavour.

So what were some of the highlight wines that I tasted (I didn't taste all the wines at the event, so i'm sure there are some excellent ones that I didn't get to try)?

- Vinedos Emiliana Eco Bio Bio Valley Sauvignon Blanc 2009 ($12.95). I like this wine as it is organic and a great price. Who says organic has to be expensive? This wine had asparagus aroma. Good acidity with citrus and apple flavours. A New World Style Sauv Blanc.

- Montgras Ninquen. This is a blend of 65% Syrah and 35% Cabernet Sauvignon. The wine comes from the Ninquen hill in the Colchagua Valley. This wine was deep purple in colour. Cassis and cherry on the nose. Cassis, dark fruit and black cherry flavours. It is very full bodied and has a spiciness that builds in your mouth as you savour it's flavours.

- Santa Carolina Reserva de Familia Cabernet Sauvignon 2007 ($19.95). This wine has a nice cassis nose. It is quite round in your mouth and has ripe red cherry flavour, and a dry finish.

- Santa Rita Medalla Real Cabernet 2007 ($19.99) . This wine is medium garnet in the glass. Cassis, red cherry, and sweet red fruit aromas. Ripe cherry and black fruit flavours. This wine is very full bodied and has nice soft tannins. Outstanding value and quality.

That is all for now. There is alot of southern hemisphere wine events happening this week. On Thursday I'll be at the Wines of Argentina event, with more wines to blog about. Salut!

Visiting Everything Wine

I've Twittered about Everything Wine, located in North Vancouver a few times, plus I go there to pick up wines that are not in the regular BC Liquor Stores. Today I thought I'd tell you a bit more about Everything Wine in my blog.

I like this store as I can find Specialty "spec" wines, as well as more premium wines. Everything Wine has a special section at the back of the store with their premium wines. If you want to buy a bottle of Sassicaia, you can find it here (for $168.99). You can also find "cheap and cheerful" wine, such as Lindeman's Bin 65 Chardonnay, which retails for $11.99. They have quite a wide selection of southern hemisphere wines, which is a good place to find good values and high quality.

Also during the weekdays, and maybe weekends, they have free tastings from 2pm to 4pm. These are free tastings. They also have special occasion tastings that you need to pay, but these tend to be more premium wines, and could have a wine maker in attendance talking about his / her wine.

The other nice thing I like about Everything Wine is that if you go to their website, you can query their wine database and see if your favorite drop is in stock. You can order it online, or go to the store to buy it. Their website is www.everythingwine.ca.

When I was there, they were going to have a special tasting of Sonoma wines for free, but I couldn't stay due to other obligations during the day, but I would have liked to try some. The other thing I noticed today is that they have the "Shuttle" bottles from Hardy's winery in Australia. They have Hardy's Chardonnay / Semillon and their Shiraz / Cabernet Sauvignon Stamp series. For those that don't know, the Shuttle is a bottle with glass built into the screw top. It is meant for picnics or just when you want a small bottle of wine to enjoy on your own. The picture of the Shuttle is in my blog.

I hope you have a chance to visit Everything Wine. Tell them Karl from MyWinePal sent you! Enjoy.

Zweigelt - A Red to Try

From my last 2 trips to the BC Okanagan, I sampled several red wines made from the Zweigelt grape. Zweigelt isn't a household name, but I think it should be more well-known. It is a grape conceived in Austria in the 1920's by crossing Blaufränkisch and St. Laurent. You may say it is now the signature red grape of Austria. It has winter hardiness which is one reason why I think it is becoming more popular in the Okanagan. The name of the grape btw, comes from the Austrian plant-breeder Prof. Fritz Zweigelt.

The wines I tried were all quite full bodied, but did not have the big firm tannins of other varietals such as Cabernet Sauvignon and Syrah. Some have said that Zweigelt is more similar to Gamay in France.

Some BC producers of Zweigelt are:
- Stonehill Estate Winery
- Kalala Organic Estate Winery
- Hainle Vineyards
- Mistral
- Arrowleaf Cellars
and many more.

My recent review of the Stonehill Estate Winery Zweigelt Reserve 2006 ($19.90). "...had a dark cherry cordial type aroma. Very smooth in the mouth, with more dark cherry cordial and plum flavour. This wine, and grape, has a nice richness to it that makes it go well with a stew over the winter".

Give a bottle of Zweigelt wine a try and see what you think. Enjoy!