Cavas Submarinas - a unique cellar in Chile

After a long day of wine tasting in Chile, I was flipping through the TV channels and stumbled upon a Spanish speaking channel talking about a winery called Cavas Submarinas. What was interesting is that you order a bottle of Cavas Submarinas wine, and instead of going to the cellar to fetch it, the sommelier puts on a wetsuit, dives into the Pacific ocean, emerges with a bottle, and comes back to your table to open it, dripping wet.

The Cavas Submarinas line consists of a Chardonnay, Sauvignon Blanc, Pinot Noir Carmenere blend, Carmenere, Syrah, and a Cabernet Sauvignon. The winery sinks containers of bottles along the coastline at specific depths (in SECRET locations), from 10 to 30 meters with the pressure of the ocean and cool temperatures keeping the wine fresh. The wines are aged beneath the waves from six months to a year. The winery asserts that the constant submarine temperature of 8°C, and the unique combination of ocean pressure, luminosity and wave movement gives the wine “...a roundness, a more Champagne-like flavor.”

With this in mind, I wonder if some enterprising winery in Kelowna or Penticton would try the same with Lake Okanagan, or maybe one of the Vancouver Island wineries?

If you can read Spanish, here is the Cavas Submarinas website.

Saludos!

Chile Day 10 - Casa Lapostolle and Viu Manent

Chile day 10 – Casa Lapostolle Clos Apalta and Viu Manent. My first stop this morning was with Casa Lapostolle in their Clos Apalta winery. This winery was specially designed for their flagship wine “Clos Apalta”. This is a Bordeaux blend with Carmenere, Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon, and Petit Verdot. The winery is dedicated to organic and biodynamic vineyard practices (which I enjoy and can note that it really does make a difference in your glass), and produces some very nice wines. The Apalta region is the premium red region in Colchagua and I believe in all of Chile. In keeping with my brevity in my blog while I am on the road, I will review one white and one red wine for Casa Lapostolle, with full tasting notes when I am back in Vancouver. For the white, I enjoyed the Casa Lapostolle Sauvignon Blanc 2009 from the Rapel Valley. It had varied aromas of citrus, pineapple and apple. On the palate there was good acidity with pineapple flavour and medium length. This is the FIRST year that Casa Lapostolle has used a screw cap on this wine or any of their other wines. An elegant wine which would pair nicely with seafood. For the reds, I must talk about their Clos Apalta Limited Release 2007. I am the FIRST person in media for North America to try this vintage of Clos Apalta and feel very privileged. This wine spends it's first year aging in all new French oak barrels with each varietal in it's own barrel. In year 2, the varietals (Carmenere, Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon, and Petit Verdot) are blended and put back in the same barrels and aged for another year. After 2 years in barrel, the wine is bottled and then the bottle is kept in storage for a year before release. The 2007 vintage was very deep purple coloured in the glass. It had vanilla and sweet black fruit on the nose. On the palate there was vanilla, sweet black fruit, red cherries, cloves, and cinnamon flavours. The flavours came out more as I swirled the wine in my glass exposing the wine to oxygen. It would be interesting if time permitted to try this wine after one hour, four hours and 24 hours to see how the wine's aromas and flavours change. To get the full effect of the wine please decant it. The wine had a nice round mouth feel with a balance of medium tannins. It finished dry with cherry and vanilla flavours lingering on the palate for a long time.

After visiting Casa Lapostolle, my next stop for the day was the Viu Manent winery, just a short drive away. I was given a short tour of the winery, with an opportunity for a barrel sample of a Merlot and a Cabernet Sauvignon, followed by a horse drawn carriage ride through the vineyard. Malbec plays a very big part of the wines at Viu Manent with more being planted around their winery. I have enjoyed their Reserva Malbec in the past at tastings I have held with the South World Wine Society in Vancouver. It is interesting to see how they are producing Malbec very successfully, while this is the signature grape of Argentina. I sampled their Viu Manent Reserva Chardonnay 2008 from the Casablanca Valley. The wine has been released for almost a year. I was told that through the year in the bottle the wine has changed with the level of acidity decreasing, leaving the wine with an off-dry level of sweetness. This wine spent 6 months in oak barrels and as deep yellow in colour. It had a vanilla, apple, sweet and creamy nose. On the palate there was more of the vanilla, apple and creaminess. It was very soft and round in my mouth but also had a slight spiciness. For the red wine, I enjoyed the Reserva Carmenere 2008 from the Colchagua Valley. Deep purple colour in the glass. Vanilla, black fruits and a slight hint of capsicum on the nose. It was quite round in the mouth, with vanilla and ripe black fruit flavours, and a peppery finish.

I have found through discussions with various Chilean winemakers on this trip that Carmenere does tend to have a peppery finish, which is quite nice. The wine makers also suggest paring a Carmenere with spicy asian foods (e.g. Thai, Indian) as well as Mexican food.

That is all from the Colchagua Valley, Tomorrow is back to Santiago. Saludos!

Chile Day 9 - Montgras and Montes

Chile day 9 – Today was my M&M day. That is Montgras and Montes. Two premium wineries located in the Colchagua Valley in Chile. In the morning I met with Mr. Santiago Margozzini from Montgras. He led me through a tasting of their wines as well as drove me through part of their Ninquen vineyards. Most of their vines are located in the Colchagua valley, but they also have some vineyards in the Leyda and the Maipo Valley. Many of the wines I tasted I do not think are in BC yet, but may soon arrive. To keep the blog short, i'll keep my notes to one white and one red for each winery, with my full tasting notes to come when I'm back in Vancouver. From Leyda, I tried a Sauvignon Blanc and a Chardonnay. The Amaral Sauvignon Blanc 2009 is 100% stainless steel fermented. They tried to minimize oxygen content with the grapes using dry ice. The wine was only bottled one month ago, and I think i am one of the first few non Chileans to try this vintage. The wine has lots of lemon, lime and grapefruit aromas with a slight hint of greenness. On the palate it had high acidity, with more lemon, lime and grapefruit flavours. And a very long length. I tried 7 reds with Montgras. All but one came from the Colchagua Valley. The MontGras Reserva Cabernet Sauvignon 2008 was deep garnet in the glass. Vanilla, black fruit, black cherries, cassis and tarry aromas. It had lots of fruitiness on the palate, with flavours of black cherry, vanilla, cloves, and chocolate. The tannins were soft but still provided a dry finish.

The afternoon I dedicated to the Montes winery, and wine maker Mr. Aurelio Montes Jr. I had met Aurelio in Vancouver during the Wines of Chile events in September and arranged to meet him at the winery in October. Aurelio first drove me around the vineyard, pointing out the differences within the vineyard topography and how that influenced the varieties planted and how the vines were planted (e.g. training the vines, and vine density). After we toured the winery, then onto tasting his wines. Again keeping brevity, i'll only review one white and one red wine for the blog, with more to come. For the white wine, I tried the Montes Sauvignon Blanc Limited Selection 2009 from the Leyda Valley (FYI, i'm starting to really enjoy Leyda Sauv Blancs more than from other parts of Chile). This one had citrus, nettles, herbal and green chile aromas. On the palate the wine had citrus, and green chile pepper flavours. Light in body but long length. Pair with some seafood. I tried 7 red wines, but the one I will talk about is the Montes Alpha Carmenere 2007. This wine was deep purple in the glass. Capsicum, back fruit and vanilla aromas. On the palate I taste red and black cherries, vanilla and a slight hint of capsicum. This wine had a soft, round mouth feel and a long length. Pair carmenere with spicy Thai, Mexican or Indian food. I can't wait to try this back in Vancouver.

Thanks to both Santiago and Aurelio for showing me their vineyards and fine wines. Saludos!

Chile day 2 - Valparaiso

Chile Day 5. Valparaiso. Today was a day of up and downs, that is from riding on funciulars along the steep slopes of Valparaiso. This is an interesting coastal city. The upper hills have many small B&B, restaurants and art galleries. Many of the walls along the narrow cobbled streets are painted with murals. For those wondering what a funicular is, it can best be described as an outside elevator, that has a track and cable going up the side of a steep hillside. The funiculars in Valparaiso are built between 1893 and 1915. The “cars” are built of wood and does take some faith that they are in good condition for riding. But they run daily several times every hour as the cars get full. It is an interesting experience.

Today beside going up and down the hillsides, I did have a chance to try more Chilean wine. This evening with dinner I ordered a bottle of Dona Dominga Carmenere 2008. This wine is from San Fernando, in the Colchagua Valley south of Santiago. This wine was very purple coloured, and looked very much like Malbec. On the nose, there was leather, tar and herbal notes. It was very round in the mouth, with juicy black fruit and plum flavours. There was a bit of spice as well. I paired this with grilled lamb chops that came with a creamy green pepper sauce and mashed potatoes. Another nice pairing.

Tomorrow i will visit the Errazuriz winery and time permitting, another winery nearby. That's all for now. Saludos!v

Chile Day 1

Day 1 in Santiago Chile. Landing in Santiago and getting through Customs was a breeze. Being able to speak a bit of Spanish helps though. Checking into the Hotel Orly around noon, and it is time for lunch. Lunch today was a Chilean style hotdog, which they add in their “Completo”, sauerkraut and avocado. Quite tasty. At 5pm a local snack of empanada pino, which is a small baked bread filled with ground meat, egg, and olives. That left me with enough energy to wait till early dinner at 8pm at “La Liguria” on Manuel Montt Street. My friend Alejandro recommended this restaurant to me, and the food was very good. My wife and I shared a grilled slice of Corvina fish, a lomo (beef) steak, Chilean salad (peeled tomatoes, sliced onions, cilantro, chile, and vinegar. And of course some wine for this dinner. My wine for the evening as a Terranoble Reserve Carmenere. Carmenere is of course the signature red grape of Chile. This wine was deep purple in the glass, very ripe fruit nose and very fruity with soft tannins, and not a hint of capsicum aroma or flavour. It went very nicely with dinner. Stay tuned for tomorrow's adventures in Chile! Saludos!

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!

Santa Rita Winery event at Boneta

Last night was a lot of fun. I was invited to meet a new winemaker from Vina Santa Rita winery, Mr. Carlos Gatica Llop, retry their range of wines, and enjoy some food from Boneta Restaurant. Carlos is a very friendly guy, who has worked in France and Spain, before working for Santa Rita in Chile. He has his feet in both the Old and New Worlds.

For those that are not familar with Vina Santa Rita, it was founded in 1880 by Domingo Fernandez Concha. The winery currently owns vineyards in the Maipo, Casablanca, Rapel, Leyda, Lontue and Limari valleys. They own the 2nd largest vineyard area in Chile.

I was fortunate enough many years ago to meet Santa Rita's senior wine maker, Mr. Andres Ilabaca, during a South World Wine Society wine maker dinner at the Seasons in the Park Restaurant in Queen Elizabeth Park. Now I have met Mr. Carlos Gatica Llop, their newest wine maker. I couldn't get Carlos to pick a favourite wine from Santa Rita. To him it is like choosing your favorite child. All your children are your favorite. But I can pick a few of my favorites!

The Medalla Real Single Estate Cabernet Sauvignon, 2006 ($20.99) was wonderful. Opaque purple in the glass. Capscium and black fruit on the nose. Black fruit, licorice, and a bit of spice flavour. Smooth.

The Floresta Apalta Cabernet Sauvignon 2004 ($55.99) was also an excellent wine. It is from 100 year old vines. Earthy, rich nose. Black fruit and black cherry flavours. Medium/fine tannins.

Other wines that are worth a buy are:
- Pehuen 2005 ($55.99) a premium wine made with 85% carmenere and 15% cabernet sauvignon.
- Floresta Petite Sirah / Sirah 2003 and 2005 vintages are around in BC ($32.49). Lots of black fruit and licorice.
- 120 Sauvignon Blanc ($11.99) A really inexpensive sauvignon blanc with LOTS of flavour.

Boneta served a variety of salads, gnocci, sausages with chicken and white beans. All were delicious and paired nicely with the wines I tried. For more info about Boneta click here.

BC Reds at the Vancouver Playhouse International Wine Fest

March 28, 2009 08:19:24
Posted By Wine With Karl

It’s early Saturday morning. I spent almost 6 hrs tasting red wine yesterday at the Festival. There were many nice reds being poured in the BC area of the tasting room. The BC reds I tried:
- Averill Creek Vineyard Pinot Noir 2006 (nice violet nose)
- Black Hills Estate Winery Carmenere 2006 (the signature grape of Chile growing here and doing a nice job)
- Burrowing Owl Estate Winery Merlot. Excellent, sweet black fruit and fine tannins
- Cedar Creek Estate Winery Merlot Cabernet 2006 and Syrah 2006. Both big full bodied wines.
- Garry Oaks Zeta 2006 (Marcel mentioned this is the first planting of Zwiegelt in BC)
- Cabernet Franc 2007 and The Bear 2006. Bordeaux blends
- Hillside Estate Winery Cabernet Franc 2006
- Kettle Valley Winery Reserve Pinot Noir 2005, Malbec 2005, and Old Main Red 2005. All had an barnyard aroma to them.
- La Frenz Merlot 2006 and Shiraz 2006. I put a star beside the Shiraz beside this one in my notes. Good balance, meaty./vanilla/dark fruit.
- Mt. Boucherie Estate Winery Summit Reserve Pinot Noir 2006, S.R. Merlot 2005, and S.R. Summit (a Bordeaux blend). Mt. Boucherie always produces nice wines.
- Noble Ridge Vineyard & Winery King’s Ransom 2006. Big red but needs 2-3 years for the tannins to soften
- Osoyoos Larose Les Petales 2005, Le Grand Vin 2004, and Le Grand Vin 2006. The wine maker told me that the vines keep getting better each year and I agree. I loved the Le Grand Vin 2006 (star).

I’ll do a separate blog entry for the international reds I tasted on Friday. Enjoy!

Day 1 at the Vancouver Playhouse International Wine Fest

March 26, 2009 09:22:25
Posted By Wine With Karl

Today I was at the wine festival waiting for the doors to open. My strategy as I am there today and tomorrow, is to taste mainly white wines today, and red wines tomorrow. Also since BC is the theme region, I'd taste the BC wines before exploring the international offerings. The BC wines I tried:

- Black Hills Estate winery who are noted for their Nota Bene Bordeaux style red blend
- Blue Mountain Vineyard and Cellars
- Burrowing Owl Estate winery
- Cedar Creek Estate Winery
- Church & State Wines
- Dunham & Froese Estate Winery
- Garry Oaks (I also recorded an interview with Marcel Mercier from Garry Oaks)
- Road 13 Vineyards
- Sandhill (check out the picture of me with Howard Soon their wine maker, and Louise Wilson their sales rep and Sommelier)
- Stoneboat Vineyards
- Tantalus Vineyards (I recorded another interview here)
- Tinhorn Creek Vineyards
- Twisted Tree Vineyards & winery
- Wild Goose Vineyards

Keeping things short and sweet on the blog, the Tantalus Riesling and Old Vines Riesling were exceptional. Sandhill has a wonderful Pinot Blanc and Pinot Gris. Road 13 has a nice pinot noir. Garry Oaks pinot noir was quite beguiling. Cedar Creek's Ehrenfelser is a neat change to a gewurztraminer. You can't go wrong with Burrowing Owl's Pinot Noir or Chardonnay.

On the international side I tried:
- La Joya Viognier Reserva 2007 (Chile)
- Bouchard Pere & Fils Beaune du Chateau Blanc Premier Cru 2006 (Burgundy, France)
- Catena Chardonnay 2007 (Mendoza, Argentina)
- Champagne Deutz Cuvee William 1998 (Champagne, France) LOVED It But >$150 a bottle.
- Erath Pinot Gris 2007 and Pinot Blanc 2006 (Willamette Valley, Oregon)
- Vina Errazuriz Sauvignon Blanc Single Vineyard 2008 (Aconcagua, Chile) A wild ferment!
- Miguel Torres Milmanda Single Estate Chardonnay 2006 (Penedes, Spain)
- Bodegas Muga Blanco 2007, Rosado 2005 (Rioja, Spain) I enjoyed the Rosado so much I bought a few bottles.
- Murphy-Goode Sonoma County Chardonnay 2006 and "The Fume" 2007 (Sonoma, CA)
- Olivier Lefaive Wines Puligny-Montrachet 1er Cru Champ Gain 2006 (Burgundy, France) an excellent wine but over $100
- Santa Margherita / Ca' Del Bosco / Kettmier Pinot Grigio 2007, Pinot Bianco Alto Adige 2007, Cuvee Prestige Franciacorta N/V. (Italy)
- Vina Santa Rita Floresta Sauvignon Blanc 2007 (Leyda Valley, Chile) good gooseberry flavour
- Sokol Blosser Winery Evolution N/V and Dundee Hills Pinot Gris 2007 (Willamette Valley, Oregon)
- Thompson Estate Chardonnay 2005 and Sparkling Chardonnay Pinot Noir 2005 (Margaret River, Australia) The sparkling just evaporated when it hit your tongue and was quite creamy. A buy!
- Miguel Torres Cordillera de las Andes Chardonnay/Viognier blend (Curico, Chile) Also a nice blend to try.

Did I try enough? I was at it for 2.5 hrs, then did a 2 hour sit down Pinot tasting. I'll blog about that another day. I will do indepth reviews of wines after the festival is over. Enjoy!

Finishing dinner with Aurelio Montes

October 11, 2008 04:19:01

Posted By Wine With Karl

In my previous blog I took you through the reception, first and second course. To wind up this dinner at Saltaire with Aurelio Montes, we have the third and final course. Our third course was a slow braised lamb shank, with rosemary tomato jus, chatrelle, fresh tyme risotto and pattypans (a kind of squash). As you can excpect a slow braised lamb shank is going to be full of flavour and needing some big red wines to complement it. The two Montes wines we had were the2005 Alpha M and the 2005 Purple Angel. The Alpha M is 95 point WIne Spectator rated. This is a Bordeaux blend, primarily Cabernet Sauvignon with cabernet franc, merlot and petit verdot. Deep purple in the glass, with a round mouthfeel. Lots of dark fruit and spice, with a dry oak finish. The second wine was the Purple Angel. Aurelio Montes has many angels drawn on different wine labels for the winery. The angels take care of the winery. This one is primarily carmenere (Chile's signature grape) with a small amount of petit verdot for extra colour and tannin. Carmenere typically has a capsicum aroma/flavour and it was evident in this wine. But it also had cherry oak and vanilla. Both are big wines, but I think the Alpha M paired slightly better with the lamb shank.

The final course, is of course, dessert. Our dessert was everything to do with chocolate. There was a cocoa tulle, a dark chocolate truffle, pot du creme, and a peanut butter cup. What to pair with these chocolates? The Montes Folly. This is a 100% syrah. The story behind the folly has a few versions, with one being people telling Aurelio that syrah cannot ripen in Chile and that it would be a folly to try. Again this wine is deep ruby in the glass like the other big reds from Montes. Aromas of cassis, vanilla oak and licorice. Yet the tannins were very supple, which again is a trademark for Aurelio's reds. Red wine and chocolate are a great pairing and this worked very well with the dark chocolate.

Please take a chance and try one of the wines from Montes. You won't be disappointed. Enjoy!

Dinner with Aurelio Montes

October 7, 2008 05:23:26

Posted By Wine With Karl

Yesterday evening was exceptional. Through the South World Wine Society and Whitehall Agencies, I and 55 other people sat down to dinner at Saltaire in West Vancouver and enjoy the wines from Aurelio Montes. Mr. Montes' winery is the 4th largest winery in Chile. He bought to us:

- Montes Leyda Sauvignon Blanc
- Montes Classic Cabernet Sauvignon
- Montes Limited Selection Cabernet Carmenere
- Alpha Cabernet Sauvignon
- Alpha Chardonnay
- Alpha M cabernet sauvignon blend
- Folly 100% Syrah
- Purple Angel Carmenere Petit Verdot

The Alpha, Folly, and Purple Angel wines are all Premium wines from Montes. Aurelio is a tall imposing man, but when you talk to him, he is very nice and down to earth. He told us of his experience of starting the Montes winery and growing it to the point where he was able to open a winery in Argentina in 2002, and another winery in Napa Valley in 2006! All the Montes' red wines have silky smooth tannins. Aurelio says it is because he likes to let their red grapes hang on the vine as long as possible. His Sauvignon Blanc was very much in the New World, New Zealand style. It had good acidity and a wonderful herbal nose (and paired very nicely with the chilled black tiger prawns with garlic aioli appetizer).

Our first course was a sweet curry creamed orzo which was paired with the Alpha Chardonnay. The Chardonnay comes from the Casablanca valley. It is oak fermented and aged in the barrel for one year. The lees (the dead yeast cells) are stirred in the barrel regularly to add a creamy texture/flavour to this wine. It had a wonderful pear and vanilla aroma. The creaminess of the wine and the full pear/apple/spice flavour paired nicely with the orzo.

The second course was a smoked black cod. It was paired with the Cabernet Carmenere blend and with the Alpha Cabernet blend. I thought the Alpha Cab with fuller body and firmer tannins help up well with the strong smoky flavour from the cod.

More to come for the third course and final course in my next blog.

You can visit the Montes website for more info.