Chilean Cabernet

Saturday night was the latest in a series of wine tastings stretching back to November of 2005. On that night is was Australian Shiraz, but on Saturday it was Cabernet Sauvignon from Chile.

There were 4 couples, and the theme of the night was a blind tasting of Cabernet Sauvignon from Chile with a general price range of less than $20. As each couple arrived I take the bottle and wrap it in newspaper so that the label is not visible. I pour a few ounces in a glass marked with a piece of colored yarn. After we’ve tasted and talked about it I pour a bit of the next wine in a second glass, and so on until we each have four glasses with a small amount of wine in each glass.

One of the remarkable things about this tasting is that all of the wines were pretty uniformly good. This is effectively pot-luck, whatever each person decides to bring, and often based on the selection and/or recommendation of the wine shop. Often in other tastings we’ve had wines that varied pretty widely, and often wines that we didn’t really like that well. Not so this evening. All four wines were excellent, well-rounded, very enjoyable wines.

The wines we had were:
• Aresti Cabernet Sauvignon Reserve 2006, DO Curico Valley, 14%, $14.99, Imported by Broadbent Selections

• Los Vascos Cabernet Sauvignon 2005, Colchagua, 14%, $12.99, Imported by Pasternak, www.pasternakwine.com, Lafite Rothschild

• Medalla Real Santa Rita Single Estate Cabernet Sauvignon 2006, Maipo Valley, 14.1%, $16.99, Imported by Palm Bay Imports, www.santarita.com

• De Martino Legado Reserva Cabernet Sauvignon 2006, Maipo Valley, 14.5%, $12.99, Imported by Global Vineyard Importers, www.demartino.cl

The overall favorite was the Aresti, very closely followed by the Medalla Real Santa Rita. Both these wines were full bodied, well balanced, and had a nice lingering flavor after each sip. We noted leather, tobacco, cherry, and other flavors, but all of us had difficulty separating particular tastes from the whole.

After a preliminary tasting and discussion we broke for dinner, in this case steaks on the grill, roasted vegetables, salad, and two kinds of pie for desert. But before the Pie we once again tasted the wines with the food.

All the wines improved with the food, and also made the food taste better. They were really enjoyable (but it could also be that we were enjoying each other’s company again!)

So, before everyone left for the evening we decided on the next tasting: seafood, Oysters, Mussels, Lobster, and whatever white we wanted to bring. With those oysters, some is sure to bring a Prosecco as a starter.