Neighbor Jeff and I make an annual trip to our local Big
Wine Store to stock him up for his annual project. You may remember the adventures of
Jeff’s Dinner Club – an undertaking in honor of his wonderful wife, Christine
the Pie Queen. Jeff lovingly crafts one delightful meal per month for his
lovely Lady of Confection. As a planner, he prefers to have all of his wines in
place before the project begins.
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| Our recent shopping trip (artist's rendition) |
Jeff also likes themes and loves his grill, so we found
ourselves in the South American aisle this time around. South American wine is
food-friendly enough as it is, but it lends itself so very nicely to food
dragged across fire. We ended up selecting a number of wines from below the
equator for his year’s project.
Since we were in the neighborhood, and since the Vine has
been pretty heavily Eurocentric recently, I decided to snag a few bottles from
South America myself. I wanted to try some varietals I wasn’t overly familiar
with from that area of the globe. I pulled some “new for me” wine from
Argentina and Chile. I also picked up my first-ever bottle from Uruguay. You
know, for science – and for sharing, of course.
Among white wines, Argentina is best known for a
grape called Torrontes, the second-most widely planted grape in that country. (The
largest white varietal in Argentina by acreage is Pedro Ximenez, which is also one
of the grapes grown in Portugal to make sherry.) Torrontes is considered Argentina’s
“national white.” I was musing to Jeff, “I wonder why the Argentineans don’t
make sparkling wine with all this Torrontes.” My eyes flicked over a few
degrees and I happened to catch a glimpse of a sparkling wine cage, in which
was – you guessed it – a sparkling Torrontes.
The bottle in question was Spirit of the Andes (NV) Sparkling Torrontes. From grapes grown in
the Mendoza region, the largest winemaking region in Argentina, this sparkling
wine is a refreshing enough sparkling quaff. Very pale in color, with a nose of
apple blossoms, which move into a green apple-dominant flavor. It’s fairly
acidic, and a little sharp on the carbonation. It was a decent enough sparkling
wine, but it wouldn’t make me turn away from Cava as an inexpensive sparkling
option anytime soon. $17 is a bit high for this one.
A bit further down the Argentina aisle, I saw a bottle of the
Humberto Canale 2008 Cabernet Franc,
and decided give it a run. I’m familiar with Malbec, Bonarda, and Cabernet
Sauvignon as Argentine reds, but not Franc. Cabernet Franc is a hit or miss
varietal often used for blending which, on its own, tends to produce a
relatively lean, tannic wine. Most versions have a finish that tastes like
graphite, which makes it a “love or hate” wine for many folks. But one region’s
blending grape can be another region’s gold mine – as when the French first planted
the Bordeaux blending grape Malbec in Argentina and it exploded into world
prominence. Maybe there was something interesting to be found here.
The results were…mixed. I don’t know what kind of aging
potential Argentine Cabernet Franc normally has, but this one might have been a
bit on the downhill. The nose was of blueberries and violets with a barnyard-y
funk in the background. I found it to be medium-bodied with a fair amount of
dark fruit and a streak of earth. The finish is more blueberries, with a long
line of pencil lead gradually trailing off. As it got some air, it developed
more of the barnyard flavors, to the point where fruit largely faded. An
inconclusive bottle, at best. Around $20.
Just across the aisle was the selection from Chile. Thanks
to the nation’s skinny geography covering over 2,600 miles of latitude, Chile
produces a little bit of everything. Among reds, they predominantly produce Cabernet
Sauvignon, Merlot/Carmenere, and Pinot Noir. I only remember trying one Syrah
from Chile, so I thought it a ripe time for a revisit.
I should have remembered the big Chilean wines require quite
a bit of time to open up. The fruit on the Lapostolle
2010 Cuvee Alexandre Syrah was basically nonexistent for about an hour
after I opened it, so crack it well in advance if you’re going to go down this
road. Once it opens (and even the next day), it turns into a right interesting
drink. If you feel that French Syrah is too earthy and Aussie Shiraz is too
fruity, this bottle from Chile might be a nice sweet spot for you. I thought
this was quite nice. The nose is big with blueberries and a little bit of oak.
The flavor is full of big dark fruits which are balanced capably by some punchy
tannins. The flavors are full, making a solid wintertime red. With chocolate or
big meats, it’s a solid choice at around $18.
Right next to the wines from Chile was a narrow selection
labeled “Other South American.” Among that group was the Bodegas Marichal 2013 Tannat
from Uruguay. Uruguay? Pop quiz – can you find Uruguay on a map? No? Let
me help you:
When the Sweet Partner in Crime and I were on a wine-tasting
excursion in Italy several years ago, one of the other members of our group was
going on and on about how wonderful Uruguay was. He said that the food and wine
were basically the best in South America, and it was great – because almost no
one knew about it. That was the last I’d heard of Uruguayan wine until I snagged
this bottle.
Uruguay’s “national grape” is Tannat. Tannat originated in
southwest France and is used as a high-tannin blending grape to round off the
edges and add structure to the Cabernet-based wines in that area, which
includes Cahors. In this respect, Tannat seems to have followed Malbec’s
terroir-driven path in Argentina – bursting from seldom-used blending grape
into high production.
We cracked this open next to an Indian-spiced version of a
shepherd’s pie made with a base of lentils and a little bit of ground lamb. We
made a heck of a good choice. The Marichal is an extremely easy to drink,
low-alcohol entry – clocking in at 13%. This wine sees no oak, and the result
is a lean, fruit-driven red with enough grape tannin to give it a very nice
structure. I found scents and flavors of raspberries and cherries – it’s about
halfway between a pinot noir and a light Cabernet Sauvignon. There’s a nice
little undertone of smoke, too. I’d certainly give this high marks, and for
$13, it’s a great value for the quality.
Jeff got his wine
cellar restocked, and there’s a rumor that he might even start the Dinner Club
adventure posts up again…so watch this space…
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