I recently had the opportunity to taste 8 really great wines from Chile and experience several different representations of Chile's terroir and the wonderful grapes they can produce there. I'd like to thank Wines of Chile for this opportunity and entrusting me with their amazing wines and giving the world a glimpse into some of their fine red wines. This post will contain a small review of each of the wines I tasted and then I plan on giving each wine in the tasting it's own dedicated post with more detail on production and technical data. 

Wines of Chile is an organization committed to promoting the quality and image of Chilean wine throughout the world. It has offices in Santiago, London, and New York, as well as representatives in Canada, Ireland, and Denmark, and also works closely with ProChile to develop and offer promotional and educational programs in Asia, Latin America and Europe. Wines of Chile’s 76 member wineries belong to Vinos de Chile and represent 85% of Chile’s bottled wine exports.

1. 2005 Valdivieso Eclat - Maule Valley

Nose: Very nice red fruit, red raspberry, red currant, cranberry, hint of fruit roll-up, slight touch of oak.

Flavors: Bright cherry, hints of white pepper, oak, tart, sweet tannin, soft texture, long finish

Score: 89+ points

2. 2006 De Martino Single Vineyard Old Bush Vines "Las Cruces" - Cachapoal

Nose: Blackberry, hint of vanilla, touch of burnt wood, creme de cassis, decadent chocolate truffle, dirt, wet soil.

Flavors: Big, dense, delicious black fruit, blackberry jam, ripe currant, rich dark chocolate raspberry, big tannin, round rich texture, tart, rich, big berry finish.

Score: 92 points

3. 2008 Estampa Gold Assemblage Carmenere - Colchagua Valley

Nose: Hints of eucalyptus, black currant, anise, black cherry, dark chocolate, cedar, pepper, lots of oak and vanilla.

Flavors: Spicy oak, black cherry, lots of vanilla and toasted wood notes, heavy bitter tannin of finish.

Score: 84+ points

4. 2008 Montes Limited Selection Cabernet Sauvignon Carmenere - Colchagua Valley

Nose: Raspberry, oak, burnt toasted wood, soil, mineral, rock, ripe fruit, eucalyptus-mint, distinctly Colchagua with it's soil driven flavors, touch of cacao, teriyaki, exhaust pipe!

Flavors: Creamy milk chocolate, raspberry, toasted oak on finish, firm tannins, long finish.

Score: 88 points

5. 2006 Maquis Lien - Colchagua Valley

Nose: Vanilla, creme, red cherry, soil, eucalyptus, graphite, black pepper, blackberry.

Flavors: Rich, delicious, red and black fruits, natural rustic fruit, powerful, big tannin, touch of alcohol on finish. Improves dramatically with aeration. 

Score: 86+ points

6. 2008 Hacienda Araucano Clos de Lolol - Colchagua Valley

Nose: Very pretty nose, spicy, dried herb, floral, mixed dark berry, chocolate, hint of eucalyptus, Cab Franc very prevalent in bouquet.

Flavors: Delicious candied fruit, toast, raspberry, chocolate, fruity, touch of spicy oak, medium length finish. 

Score: 89 Points

7. 2007 Emiliana Coyam - Colchagua Valley

Nose: Black Pepper, dark chocolate 80% cacao, black cherry, soil, crushed stone, hint of eucalyptus.

Flavors: Savory, rich, black raspberry, creamy, big tannin, good acid, nicely balanced.

Score: 90+ points

8. 2007 Casa del Bosque Gran Estate Selection Private Reserve

Nose: Big, rich black raspberry, graphite, touch of soil and eucalyptus-mint, creme de cassis

Flavors: Rich texture, creme de cassis liquor, black raspberry, scorched earth, intense, long finish

Score: 91 points

I was really impressed with these wines and the quality and depth in complexity that they showed. Each one was distinct, but when tasting the wines from Colchagua there were lots of the same soil notes and a distinctive eucalyptus quality that I found fascinating. 

I'd like to give a special thanks to Fred Dexheimer and his distinguished panel of vineyard representatives, Wines of Chile, and Morgan Perry and the folks over at the thomas collective.

I have to say I'm really excited to taste this wine again after being away from the wine scene for some time. I took a month long sabbatical to South America and actually recently had another child! Congratulations to me! Anyways, the last time I tasted this wine I really loved it and thought it was perhaps one of the best value driven wines in the whole industry. Take a look at my previous review of the 2005 vintage here.

The 2007 vintage in California was widely excepted as one of the better vintages of the decade and although wines tend to vary with every year, Marietta has also been one of my favorite wineries because of it's unshakable consistency.

The 2007 Marietta Alexander Valley Cabernet was released in June of this year and prior to release was aged for sixteen months in French oak barrels.

Now, one of the things I have really loved with this wine is it's pure black fruit aromas, and the 07' is packed with black plum, cassis, graphite, hints of toasted cedar, dark chocolate, and melted black licorice. The wine is quite dark in color, which I find is typical of these ripe Alexander Cabernet's.

On the palate the first thing I notice it the vibrancy of the fruit flavors....It's almost as if you can taste the warm California sunshine! Immediately intense flavors of black cherry, cassis, spicy licorice, and cacao impact the palate with a tart acidity. The texture of the wine is silky, however the mid-palate offers up a spicy kick and a powerful blast of intense dark fruit flavors accompanied by a generous amount of graphite and cedar. The finish is long and accompanied by some firm but very round tannins.

This wine is still very much a baby and I can see it aging quite gracefully for the next 7-10 years. What's awesome is that it's such a serious bottle for under $20. (If you purchase it from the devil...Total Wine!)

This wine for me has seriously become a gold standard for quality Cabernet in this price point. Major Kudos to Marietta once again. 91 points


Click here to find out more about this wine

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8. 2007 Fontodi Flaccianello Colli della Toscana
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10. 2009 Clos des Papes Châteauneuf-du-Pape White

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