South American Wine Tasting
A couple of weeks ago, Brother O’Mara and I went to a South American tasting at Martin Wine hosted by the knowledgeable and gracious Andrew Dike. He took a trip to Chile and Argentina last year and not only led us through the wines of the region, but showed us some beautiful photos and made us all jealous that we didn’t go along.
Here’s the rundown, with notes:
2008 Cono Sur Sauvignon Blanc (Chile, $9.99)
Creamy nose with strong tropical/melon/pineapple aromas. Bright, acidic, and green on the tongue; sweetening a lot upon warming up; creamy finish.
2006 Cono Sur Vision Chardonnay (Chile, $13.99)
Nutty and floral nose, brisk and minerally; apple; full but with low oak for a Chardonnay.
2007 Cono Sur Vision Pinot Noir (Chile, $13.99)
Toasty, hot nose, with a hint of metallic aroma. Tastes of jammy red fruit with a long finish; slightly hot. Not very well-balanced.
2007 Cono Sur Ocio Pinot Noir (Chile, $50.00)
Dusty, brambly nose with definite dark fruits; very complex compared with the Vision, soft and creamy, full with currants and black cherry. Intense fruit, mild tannins and some oak on the finish. Huge, ripe mouthfeel.
2007 La Posta Malbec Paulucci Vineyard (Argentina, $15.99)
Civet and red cherry on the nose, also perfumey and oddly floral; taste of red fruit, particularly strawberry, young-tasting, floppy, and fatty with no bones–no complexity or structure to back up the initial taste.
2007 Dona Paula Cabernet Sauvignon (Argentina, $13.99)
Big and dirty, thick, meaty nose; bitter chocolate entrance, savory taste with a huge mouthfeel and an oaky, hot, tannic finish.
2007 BenMarco Cabernet Sauvignon (Argentina, $18.99)
Creamy nose with hints of graphite and red fruit; round and rich purple fruits (cassis and plum) on tongue; tannic, bitter oak on finish
2007 Tikal Amorio Malbec (Argentina, $18.99)
(this is the 2006 label, not 2007)
Floral and red fruit aromas, subtle but full; well-balanced with good tannins.
Overall, neither of us found anything we HAD to have, although if we had, we could have done so since most everything we tasted was moderately priced. As an aside, we LOVE the Dona Paula Shiraz-Malbec — it’s become a daily drinker in our house — so it was nice to try the cabernet as well.
Foodwise, they served La Yerbera, a goat’s milk cheese covered in almonds from Spain and Campo Montalban, a Spanish mixed-milk cheese.
28 May, 2009 at 17:51
The Cono Sur Vision Sauv Blanc (13.99) is also great.
It excites me to see more and more high-end Chilean wines being produced. Did you feel like the Ocio was worth the price?
29 May, 2009 at 01:47
Flojindamesa: I can’t speak for lafille, but I know that if I personally had $50 to spend on a bottle of red it wouldn’t be the Ocio. There was certainly not a thing wrong with it, and I think it drank just like a high-end new world Pinot Noir should. There are other new world Pinots I’d buy first is all.
31 May, 2009 at 00:12
I agree. It didn’t stand out as anything I MUST HAVE, especially for $50.