Chilean Gems - Join Us Wednesday
for In-Store Tasting

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Benefit Tasting
Saturday, February 13, 2010

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This week we feature four wines from Chile for our in-store tasting, Wednesday, from 4:30pm to 7:00pm. Chile experienced explosive growth in its wine industry at the turn of the twentieth century. Those grand estates, surrounded by miles and miles of vineyards did not join the global wine industry until recently. These wines are impressive, showing the potential the mighty Andes offers. Many of us are aware of the fresh produce coming from Chile in our winter, but might not be savvy to her vinous talents.

Casillero del Diablo was borne out of a need to keep the employees out of the cellar, where they would drink the wine. They were told Beelzebub lived down there and being fearful of the devil, they stayed clear of the cellar and the winery's inventory. We found this gewurztraminer to be luscious. Read about gewurztraminer.

Carmenere is the signature grape of Chile and Ventisquero does it justice with its roasted flavors and ripe raspberry tones. Perez Cruz is always a great label, focusing on the best quality grapes for the least amount of green. And last but not least, Maquis Lien is a blend of 42% syrah, 30% carmenere, 12% cabernet franc, 9% petit verdot, and 7% malbec. This blend impresses us vintage after vintage. It is elegant, layered, and very special.

Stop by on Wednesday to sample each from 4:30pm to 7:00pm.

February 3, 2010 - Great Wines From Chile!
Casillero del Diablo Gewurztraminer $10.49
Ventisquero Carmenere $11.99
Perez Cruz Reserve Cabernet $14.99
Maquis Lien Red Blend $18.49

Read about gewurztraminer.

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Gewurztraminer

Gewurztraminer is a grape like no other. Its aroma is fetching, including scents lychees, stone fruits, and roses. Its skin is pink and most of the time this rosy pigment is removed when the wine is filtered or fined. Rose is made from red grapes, but gewurztraminer is a white grape and only imparts a slight pinkish tinge wine vinified.
      Its ancestry reaches back centuries to the German speaking reaches of Northern Italy. This area of the Alps is home to a wine grape called traminer. This is also where many think sauvignon blanc got its start. One day a cluster of pink berries showed up on a vine, unlike the other grapes. Some thought it was cross breading between traminer and sauvignon blanc. Others felt that because traminer was so genetically unstable that it had mutated into a different variety.
      Regardless of where the grape came from, this mystery grape was more aromatic than either of its suspected parents. So the term 'gewurz' was added to by the Alsatians, a prefix meaning spicy. The history of how some varieties came into existence is lost over hundreds and sometimes thousands of years. The regions of Alsace and the Alps on the Italian border were disputed and fought over for centuries. This is why you will find the same grapes with different names, especially in these areas.
      White grapes like cooler climates and red grapes flourish in warmer ones. The northern reaches of Europe, far from the Mediterranean, are home to many interesting white grape varieties.
      Gewurztraminer is a hard grape to grow and can be a bit flabby sometimes, lacking enough acidity to balance against its uber ripe profile. Gewurztraminer is very luscious in the mouth, with a perfume like character offering flavors of tangerine, nectarines, lychees, apricots, cinnamon, roses, and minerals. It can be vinified completely dry or, vinified with some residual sugar (RS). It can also be allowed to hang on the vine after regular harvest to be made into a scrumptious dessert wine.
      While riesling is a wine that can pair well with many foods, gewurztraminer is a little more particular. Pair gewurztraminer with sausages, sauerkraut, curries, spicy barbeque, Mexican, Indian, and other spicy cuisine.
      Gewurztraminer is a rare and unusual grape. Good versions of this grape are just as rare. When it is good, it is very good and can wow with heady aromas and an intense and layered fruity character.

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