Chile (Casablanca) - Indomita 3.15.10

Apologies for the lapse in time to our faithful readers since the last blog update!

So after our two weeks in Chilean Patagonia we managed to get up to Santiago for a few days before making our way back to Lima, Peru. Though there were no visible signs of the catastrophic earthquake that struck central Chile in Santiago, the Colchagua wine region to the south was crippled. As such we opted to visit the Casablanca wine region which is about an hour west of Santiago. This area reminds me a lot of the Anderson Valley in Mendocino County. It can get hot but it is also near the ocean which creates a nice inversion layer resulting in cool evenings and some foggy mornings. In Casablanca, they focus on white wines (Sauvignon Blanc and Chardonnay) with a sprinkling of red wines (primarily Syrah and Pinot Noir). Similar to the Mendoza region in Argentina, some of the wineries have gourmet restaurants on site to compliment the experience. And so we start with our first of two lunches in the Casablanca region.

Indomita is a large producer. As I recall they are in the 1+ million liters of annual wine production club. For our visit, we did not schedule a tour. Instead we opted for the restaurant and the 'menu of the day' which was paired with their wines. Our menu included four courses plus desert and coffee (note: they served Illy espresso - nice) and we sampled 6 wines with the meal.

Our first wine was the 2007 Reserve Chardonnay. This was paired with a timbale of caprese salad. Not a new idea (a timbale of something) but an interesting concept with the salad. Basically, the essence of a caprese salad in a shot glass. The wine was refreshing for a hot day (which it was). A hint of citrus. Most likely steel or possibly neutral oak. And just a bit bitter on the end.

Next up was the 2008 Duet Grand Reserve Chardonnay served with tuna tartare. The wine reminded us of a very traditional California Chardonnay. Lot's of oak. A hint of peach. Still a little bitter on the end.

Now things got really interesting. Well, that is an overstatement. Our third course was Chilean sea bass with arugula, kidney beans, and wild mushrooms. Great combination. The wild mushrooms and the sea bass! Anyway, food good :) Wine bad :( Served with this course was the 2007 Duet Pinot Noir. Served at about 45 degrees. Why? Well, lucky for you we asked. The answer, ugh... 'Because it is a very delicate wine'. In simple terms, this is a bad wine so we mask it by keeping really cold! What we got from it was a hint of chocolate and cherry on the nose. Not much body or structure.

Did we talk about Patagonian lamb yet? Possibly not. Two words, mouth watering. Unfortunately, we were no longer in Patagonia. For the fourth course we were served lamb with a king crab humita. Oh and I forgot, have you had king crab (centolla) from Patagonia? Well refer to my lamb observation above. Anyway, this came with the 2007 Deut Cabernet Sauvignon and Carmenere blend. Unlike the 'chilled' Pinot Noir, this was served a bit on the warm side. We got some chalk (mineral) on the end. The wine did not have much body or structure. Perhaps a trend!!!

Chocolates. Did we tell you about the artisanal chocolates from Patagonia? Please refer back to the previous paragraph! Two wines came our way, 2006 Zardoz and 2008 Late Harvest. Zardoz is their premium Cabernet Sauvignon (100%). Leather, mocha, and dry. Late Harvest was blend of Sauvignon Blanc and Gewurztraminer. Soap, light, and not much residual sugar.

The Danes were in town at Indomita! Did you know they invented wine?

Recap:

Winery

Vina Indomita - Should visit just for the views of the valley floor. Has a tasting room.

Wines

2007 Reserve Chardonnay - QPR Mid-High, USD9

2008 Duet Grand Reserve Chardonnay - QPR Mid, USD20

2007 Duet Pinot Noir - QPR Very Low, USD20

2007 Duet Cabernet Sauvignon/Carmenere - QPR Low-Mid, USD20

2006 Zardoz Cabernet Sauvignon - QPR Low, USD46

2008 Late Harvest - QPR Very Low, USD6 (yes - six dollars but still lousy)

Wines we bought to drink

None

Restaurant

Indomita, Chef Oscar Tapia - Coin toss as you are about an hour from Santiago and the 'menu' was USD50 per person.

Contacts

www.indomita.cl

Chile - Artisanal and National Brews

We hopped into Chile via a lakes crossing (yes, plural) from Bariloche to Puerto Varas (central Chile) over two days. The trip was fun and I give full credit to Kara for coming up with this plan. Our first stop in Chile was the border village (less than 50 people) of Puella. This is a destination spot setup exclusively for the border crossing. At Hotel Puella (pic is from our room), we began our journey into Chilean beers and wines. Unfortunately, the hotel was not well stocked with quality wines so begin our Chile recap with beers....

Let's go to the National side of things first:

Cristal - Sound familiar? Turns out both Chile (green can) and Peru have a national beer with the same name. Both countries claim to have the better beer. Chile's is a simple lager. Peru's version is more like a pilsner. A toss up!

However, if we talk about pisco sour, then we have a clear winner. The pisco sour from Peru is of superior quality and flavor. In Chile, a pisco sour is comprised of lime juice, lots of sugar, and a hint of pisco. It is served in a champagne flute. In Peru, a pisco sour is comprised of lime juice, egg white, pisco, and bitters. It is served in a rocks glass.

Imperial (sorry no picture) - Another big brewer in Chile that we sampled. Nothing to note. Similar to Cristal.

The Artesanal side is really interesting. In fact, we found the overall quality of these beers to be much better than what we tasted in Argentina (though, Australis would be on par with the best ones we tasted in Chile)

Colonos - From Lago Llanquihue (third largest lake in South America), this lager is both unfiltered and unpasteurized. The flavor profile was a strong hint of bitterness in the end which reminded me more of a pale ale than a lager. Color profile was cloudy. Can that be a color? No. Ok. How about caramel in color but murky in visibility!

Austral - Made in Punta Arenas (Patagonia - Tierra del Fuego), this is no longer a micro brew. They produce over 10 varieties of this brand and sell it all over Chile. Regardless, we found these to be excellent beers from top to bottom. The Calafate Ale was our favorite of the bunch. Calafate is a berry (much like a blueberry) from Patagonia. It is a bit more dense and sweeter in flavor. The beer itself reminded me of a good every day amber ale. Not bitter nor was it sweet from the fruit.

Kross - Two flavors on this one that we found (they make seven flavors), a golden ale and a stout. The both unfiltered and unpasteurized. The stout was excellent. This was closer to a Guiness Foreign Stout in flavor profile and consistency. I had this along side a garlic soup (broth) which was amazing at La Leyenda del Remezon (quaint and eclectic restaurant near the port in Punta Arenas - highly recommended). Great combo!

Szot Negra - A stout of average quality. Bottle fermented (noted on the label) and again no preservatives. This seems to be a common theme for all the artisanal beers in Chile.

Szot Amber - Good. But try their Pale Ale (not pictured) which I really liked. Bitter but smooth in the finish.

Kuntsmann (sorry no picture) - A brewery out of Valdivia which makes a handful of beers. Similar in production style (unfiltered and unpasteurized). They make a pale ale 'Torobayo' which was Kara's favorite ale of all the ones we tried. It was a smooth beer with very little bitterness in the end.

And a fun picture... In case you can't read this is a 1960's Pepsi sign we saw in Bariloche, Argentina - "DRINK Pepsi = Cola DELICIOUS - HEALTHFUL"

Draw your own conclusions on this....

Recap:

National Beers

Cristal - Peru's version is slightly better

Imperial

Artisanal Beers

Colonos

Austral - Grandfather of beer in Patagonia. Try as many as you can

Kross

Szot

Kuntsmann

What beer we would buy to stock in the fridge

Kross Stout

Kuntsmann Torobayo

Austral Calafate Ale

Restaurants

La Leyenda del Remezon (Punta Arenas) - Get the garlic soup.

Contacts

www.cervezaaustral.cl

www.kross.cl

www.szot.cl

Argentina - Artisanal Beers

Need I say more? Ok, I will say a little.

As mentioned in the Buenos Aires post, Argentina is also gaining some notoriety for their micro brewed beers. In particular, the mountain resort village of Bariloche seems to be a focal point. We spent a handful of days enjoying the lake district of Argentina. Our home base was a small apartment in the village with this amazing view of the Catedral de San Carlos de Bariloche and Nahuel Huapi lake.

From a gastronomical perspective, Bariloche is well known for three things: chocolates, beer, and ahumados (smoked meat and fish). Yes, grilled meats too but that is the rumor for all of Argentina. We hit up four brew pubs during our short stay.

First was Familia Weiss in the village. Here we sampled a traditional 'tabla de ahumados' and their two handcrafted beers on draft (i.e. 'chopp'). The first was the Rubia which is basically an ale. The second was the Negra which is probably meant to be a bock beer but ends up somewhere between a bock and a stout. We actually, thought it came closer to being a stout. Sorry no pictures for this first stop.

Next up was Blest about 12km away from the center of the village. Again we sampled a plate of smoked meats and cheeses and a few of their beers on draft.

Average, at best.

Hint of caramel.

Blest Negra (no pic, sorry) - Water. Yeah, a bit light. Closer to a porter. Flavor profile included hints of chocolate and coffee.

Blest Frambuesa (no pic, sorry) - Think pink lemonade as the color profile and not the typical red color of Belgian rasberry ales. Regardless of the color, this was the best beer we tasted from them.

About 150 meters down the road you can find Berlina. From what we understand Berlina is no longer a simple micro brewery. They have grown extensively and though the locals may take pride in its origins, they don't necessarily promote it. We stopped by after our lunch at Blest to pickup a couple of beers:

Referred to as their classic beer, this is an ale (i.e. Rubia). Ok.

Was hoping for something similar to the Guiness Foreign Stout. Did not come close. However, I did like the burnt coffee flavor profile but a bit light like the Blest Negra.

Our favorite by far. Australis, located 80km from Bariloche on the outskirts of the resort town of Villa La Angostura, truly fit the spirit of an artisanal brewery. Here you can taste their four handcrafted brews via a sampler menu and enjoy common pub fare. What you can't do is take it home because they don't bottle it. What a shame as we found their beers beers (in particular, the stout) to be the best ones we tasted in Argentina.

Pilsen - Refreshing.

Strong Pale Ale - Similar to a scotch ale. Yummy.

India Pale Ale - Bitter but I liked it.

Stout - Best in class. Full. Good balance of chocolate and coffee (i.e. mocha).

Also, while in Ushuaia (End of the World), I picked up a malt beer at a coffee house.

Color profile - Dark. Flavor profile - Not Good. But I did finish it.

Recap:

Artisanal Beers

Familia Weiss - Bariloche, Get some of their smoked meat and fish products

Blest - Bariloche KM11.6

Berlina - Bariloche KM11.75

Australis - Villa La Angostura, MUST VISIT

What beer we would buy to stock in the fridge

Australis Stout

Australis Strong Pale Ale

Contacts

www.cerveceriaaustralis.com.ar

www.ahumaderoweiss.com

www.cervezaberlina.com

www.cervezablest.com.ar

Argentina - Iguazu (The Falls) and Ushuaia (The End of the World)

Wrapping up our Argentina segment on wines we leave you with two extreme parting shots: Iguazu Falls and Ushuaia.

Iguazu Falls (Argentina/Brazil border)

We visited Iguazu Falls for two nights and one day. To make things as simple as possible we opted to stay at the Sheraton on the park grounds. This afforded us the opportunity to be the first to set foot on the park in the morning and the last to leave at night. Frankly, you only need 1 night and 1 day to cover the park.

The falls are impressive and we would recommend this as a good side trip from Buenos Aires.

The Sheraton wasn't bad. In fact, the spa facilities and outdoor pool were good. Rooms needed some serious updating. Food.... Well it was ok. Wines. Some nice options and fair prices.

Angelica Zapata 2005 Cabernet Sauvignon - Another Argentine market wine from Catena Zapata. We really enjoyed this with steak. Plenty of legs on this wine and probably could use another few years in the cellar. We paid USD45 for this at the restaurant. At the winery, this would have run approximately USD30. As with the Catena Zapata blog post, I believe these are excellent wines for the value. In this case, QPR Mid-High and cellar for another 5 years.

San Pedro de Yacochuya 2007 Vino Tinto - Malbec (85%) and Cabernet Sauvignon (15%). From the Salta region, this is a Michel Rolland product. The vineyards sit at 2000 meters which is pretty damn high. We paid USD25 at dinner for this bottle. They also offered the Reserva version for USD43. This was a big wine at 15.7% alcohol. Very fruit forward and full bodied. But a good wine. Easy to drink. QPR High (if you can find it in the US).

Ushuaia (The End of the World)

We left Argentina for good via a cruise around Cape Horn and onto Punta Arenas, Chile. Our embarkation point was in Ushuaia, Argentina. This is the southern most city on earth and is more commonly referred to as 'The End of the World'. Here we stayed one night at nice B&B, Tierra de Leyendas, owned by a french chef and his wife. The food was very good and the wine list offered some nice odds and ends.

Angelica Zapata 2002 Chardonnay - As expected, full of oak. Very similar to the 2005 we tasted at the winery in Mendoza. The wine had aged well and drank nicely. QPR High (but you won't find it in the US).

Recap:

Hotels

Sheraton Iguazu Falls, On the park grounds, Worth it for 1 or 2 nights

Tierra de Leyendas, Good B&B, Best Spot in Ushuaia

Wines

Angelica Zapata 2005 Cabernet Sauvignon, QPR Mid-High

San Pedro de Yacochuya 2007 Vino Tinto, QPR High

Angelica Zapata 2002 Chardonnay, QPR High

Mendoza - Vines of Mendoza

To wrap up our coverage on the Mendoza region we thought it would be best to introduce you to the Vines of Mendoza (VOM). Actually, I take zero credit for this discovery. This was provided to us by the Prime clan before we left on our trip. VOM runs a nifty little joint in Gran Mendoza focused on sharing wines from the region to tourists and locals alike.

VOM has two locations in Gran Mendoza. First, they have a dedicated tasting facility (really a small house near the Park Hyatt) which you can drop into during the week (except Sunday's) to purchase 'flights' or by the glass. They offer over 40 different small producers on their list along with some of the bigger names. And you can join their wine club too which gets you periodic shipments of wines from the local producers. The second, is a vinoteca within the Park Hyatt which you can purchase by the bottle to drink onsite or take home. However, the primary focus is to provide an avenue for tourists (primarily Americans) to purchase wines to ship home. VOM has a distribution business in the US which enables them to get the wine to you at standard US shipping rates and with no customs duties, etc.

Now VOM is a much bigger enterprise than just tasting rooms and retailing. Their primary gig is to sell you land in Mendoza which they will help manage and cultivate for you. I had a very preliminary chat with the guys who run this business and it looks like the current rate is $50k per acre with a 3-5 acre plot minimum. They own close to 1,000 acres and are building a gated community with all the bells and whistles. For more on this, please visit their website.

On our first day we stopped by the tasting room to check things out. It was a hot day in the city so we opted for a flight of the white wines. We tasted six whites for a relatively nominal fee of $15 per person. No pictures on this one but below are our notes:

Las Perdices Pinot Gris 2009 - Crisp and acidic.

Mounier Torrontes 2009 - Subtle moscato taste. Well balanced.

Mairena Sauvignon Blanc 2008 - Grassy. Green on the nose but not on the palate.

Lorca Poetico Viognier 2008 - More acidic than a CA Viognier and not as creamy.

Bressia Lagrima Canela 2007 - This was a blend of 70% Chardonnay and 30% Semillon. Think baked pineapple and a strong vanilla flavor.

Pulenta Estate Chardonnay 2007 - Do not confuse this as a Carlos Pulenta wine. This is from a different producer. Good balance of oak and steel.

Also, we visited the vinoteca at the Park Hyatt on the last Sunday before we left. This was a bit of an odd experience. The vinoteca is tucked away in the back of the hotel so without asking you don't find it and end up on the front terrace or in the bar lounge of the hotel. Once we made our way to the vinoteca, we expected to have a similar experience as the tasting room. Not even close! As I noted in the second paragraph, the focus of the vinoteca is an avenue to purchase and ship wines. They only offer a couple of wines by the glass or you can purchase by the bottle from their extensive list. It worked out just fine as we ended up with a terrific blend from a small winery near Tupungato (Uco Valley), Bodega La Azul.

Gran Reserva 2004 - This is a blend of Malbec (65%) and Cabernet Sauvignon (35%). A very good wine that took over an hour to open up. Well balanced and good structure. We would rank this as the #2 blend of the Mendoza trip for us. Price in Gran Mendoza was great at USD42. However, I have not seen it cheaper than USD66 in the US (Ironically, from the VOM website). This wine could last in the cellar for another 5 years without much fanfare. So QPR is High if you get it around USD45. QPR would be Mid if you can only find it at USD65.

Recap:

Proprietor

Vines of Mendoza - Retail, tasting, vineyards, and more... MUST VISIT (Tasting Room) when staying in Gran Mendoza, Wine Club, US Shipping and US Rates

Contact

www.winesofmendoza.com

Mendoza - Achaval-Ferrer 2.15.10

Our last winery visit was a bit anti climatic as we had to rejoin the mass tours and tastings. Probably fitting to end it this way but we did do it with a twist. We tasted in Spanish and toured in English. Not sure which part was better.

For starters, Achaval-Ferrer was very generous in their pours. We tasted wines from all three lines plus a sticky. For those of you who often venture into wine country, you can probably attest to the pleasure of tasting the best wines that wineries produce versus just being relegated to the 'boxed' wine. I firmly believe that this should be the standard. Some wineries do this without fanfare (kudos to the likes of Heitz and Chapoutier).

Also, the winery was bustling. One really cool thing was to see them add foils and labels (including importer and country specific notations) by hand.

The story we were told about Achaval-Ferrer starts with the passion of four friends and colleagues to buy a piece of land to make wine and vacation. As the wine got better, they decided to jump into the business and hired Italian winemaker, Roberto Cipresso (from Montalcino). The partners are all involved in various aspects of the business.

Achaval-Ferrer produces three lines under the same label: Mendoza (varietal), Quimera (blend), and Finca (vineyard designates). Only 25% of the production makes it to the US.

The Mendoza line is focused on producing a cuvee using grapes from the various properties which they own. Quimera is a blend of Cabernet Sauvignon, Malbec, and Merlot. And the Finca line produces three vineyard designates: Altamira, Bella Vista, and Mirador (all Malbec). All three are unique. Quimera seems to be the most popular followed by the Finca Altamira.

For our tasting we tasted two Mendoza wines (Malbec and Cabernet Sauvignon), Quimera, and Finca Bella Vista. They also poured their Dolce which screams Italy to me. In particular, Passito from the island of Elba.

Malbec not pictured - High tannins which makes sense given the altitude of the vineyards. Good structure but young.

Cabernet Sauvignon - This was actually pretty interesting. They poured to help us understand the expression and depth that it provides as part of the Quimera blend. I found it to be very tight and with a fair amount of tannins. Certainly, a good representation of the varietal from this region.

Blend - Another young gun. Malbec more pronounced than the other two varietals.

Finca Bella Vista - Vineyard sits at about 1000 meters. Still too young for my taste. Did not walk away impressed by it nor was I rolling my eyes at the price tag. I would like to see this from an earlier vintage.

Sticky - Yummy. Very rich. As noted, like a Passito. To make this you harvest and then lay the grapes down to shrivel and concentrate. Then you press. Makes good juice. Nice to see a sticky made from Malbec.

Recap:

Winery

Achaval-Ferrer, Small production, Old World technique, Should Visit (try for a private tour)

Wines

2007 Mendoza Cabernet Sauvignon, QPR Mid, USD15, Only sold at the winery

2007 Mendoza Malbec, QPR Mid-High, USD15

2007 Quimera, QPR Mid-High, USD30

2007 Finca Bella Vista, QPR Mid, USD80

2008 Dolce, No QPR since USD Unknown, Only sold at the winery

Wines we bought

None (we left the next day so no time to drink up)

Contact

www.achaval-ferrer.com

Mendoza - Vina Cobos 2.12.10

So we got our dates crossed. We actually meant to have a day of 'rest' in Mendoza on Friday the 12th but since Vina Cobos was in Lujan de Cuyo (only a 25 minute drive), we opted to go ahead and do a quick visit. Glad we did. Not a great tasting and you won't see a lot of color on this one but I think it was important for us to do this particular visit.

Our story with Vina Cobos dates back to the 2002 Cobos Malbec (they also produce Nico which is a blend) vintage. When we were first really ramping up our cellar this was one of the early 'big' purchases. At the time, this wine was retailing for $75 a bottle. I think Glenn (brother in law) got a great deal through the Wine Library (www.winelibrary.com) for $65 a bottle. If I recall, he had either tasted this wine or his friend Arturo (yes, an Argentine) mentioned it... Anyway, we ended up with a case in the cellar. In fact, we have yet to drink a bottle of it (note to self - DRINK some now or sell it). Why did I say sell it? Current releases of this wine retail for $175 a bottle. In fact, the reason we only have one vintage in our cellar is because the 2003 jumped up to $125 a bottle. Not something we were willing to pay for a varietal that we really knew nothing about. Would I buy it today. Bottomline, NO! Not because it is a bad wine. I suspect that it is good but there are too many good (even great) age worthy wines coming from Argentina in the $40-$50 range.

In my mind, the Vina Cobos story is one about marketing and brand name recognition. They are not the only one here in Argentina or around the world. The power of a strong brand name is a differentiator and this applies to the wine industry as well.

Vina Cobos produces four labels: Felino (basico), Bramare Lujan de Cuyo, Bramare Marchiori, and Cobos. They offer Chardonnay, Malbec, Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon, and a blend. For our tasting we were introduced to the Felino and Bramare Lujan de Cuyo lines.

The facility is small and in the process of expanding. In fact, they have no formal tasting room and have just started to concentrate on the hospitality part of it. They hired Marianna Cerutti from Carlos Pulenta to target this area. They do not own many vineyards but instead focus on cooperative farming (farm management) to source from select vineyards.

No Picture (see your local Costco for Felino) - Chardonnay and Malbec were both marginal in structure and complexity. I would not buy these over the others we have covered in the USD10-20 range. You are in effect only buying the name so why bother.

Cabernet Sauvignon - The Bramare Lujan de Cuyo is their newest label and it was introduced to target the middle market. Effectively, looking to capture the USD30-40 range. At this price, stick with the good stuff from Angelica Zapata, Mendel, or Andeluna. Or even Azul (more in this in the upcoming Vines of Mendoza blog). Our notes, basically, a tight and acidic wine. I thought it was green at the end and did not posses much body/structure. This could be because it was young.

Recap

Winery

Vina Cobos - A Paul Hobbs joint, Cooperative Farming, Only if you have time

Wines

2008 Felino Chardonnay, QPR Low, USD15

2008 Felino Malbec, QPR Low, USD15

2007 Bramare Lujan de Cuyo Cabernet Sauvignon, QPR Low, USD35

Wines we bought to drink

Nothing

Contact

marianacerutti@vinacobos.com

www.vinacobos.com