Chilean wines

[winer]

Greetings all. I would like to know if anyone has tried any Chilean wines recently. I notice that there is no specific category for South American wines in the list of wine specific forums.

Here in British Columbia, Chilean wines are becoming very popular because they combine good quality and LOW price. There are a number of very drinkable wines for $9.95 (Canadian) or about $5.50 (US). A wine of comparable quality made in BC would be in the $15 to $18 range.
One excellent label is Cono Sur (I am ashamed to admit that it had t be pointed out to me that "Cono Sur" is a take off on "Connoisseur") Never the less, the wines (Merlot, Pinot Noir and an excellent Viognier) are superior quality. And no, I am not the distributor of the wines!)

[Innkeeper]

Have had much better luck with Argentine wines than Chilian ones. This not only includes their "own" malbec, but also cabs, merlots, blends, etc.

Agree that South American wines need a home on this board. The easiest way would be to rename the Australia, New Zealand, South Africa thread to "Southern Hemisphere."

[chittychattykathy]

Try:
Arboleda Carmenere
or for less money
Concha Diablo Carmenere,
both from Chile.

[Thomas]

...or Bouchon Carmenere...terrific (unknown) grape variety

[lostintexas]

Coincidentally, our wine club is tasting some Chilean and Argentinian wines this Tuesday evening. If you are interested, I will let you know our thoughts about the tasting!

[winoweenie]

Hi there lostintexas and welcome to the board(and 'aint we all). We'd love to have everyone post their tasting notes on the board. That way we can ascertain if Bucko has improved his tasting acumen by 5% up to 17 this year.WW [img]http://www.wines.com/ubb2/biggrin.gif[/img]

[lostintexas]

Hi again,
We had our SA tasting, and here is what we drank: 2000 Susana Balbo Cab, 1998 Sena Cab, 1999 Catena Cab, 1998 Montes Alpha Cab, and 1999 Montes Alpha M Cab. The Sena and Alpha M each cost $49.99, Susana Balbo cost $24.99, and the Catena and Montes Alpha were $15.99 each. We (a group of 18) liked them all, but found the Alpha M and Catena to be the best. The Balbo was disappointing, as was the Sena. Most had a pleasant but not complex bouquet, which faded. The majority had nice soft fruit upfront, which tended to fade also. A few had some vegetal and mineral tastes, but not over-strong or enough to make the wine unappealing or undrinkable. An interesting note is that after everyone left and I cleaned up, there was a little of each wine left in the bottles, which I re-tasted. I must admit that with the exception of the "M", all wines had lost any complexity or fruitiness, and were rather vinegary! I still feel that Santa Rita, Casa Lapostolle, and Catena produce decent inexpensive wines which are available certainly on the net, if not at your local store. [img]http://www.wines.com/ubb2/smile.gif[/img]

[Thomas]

Interesting notes. I would find vegetal and mineral characters a negative in Cabernet Sauvignon. And at the prices you quote, I don't think any of the wines should have been fruitless and vinegar-like later in the evening. Seems to me the wines, except for the M, didn't make the grade, but then I wasn't there--can only go by your notes.