And the winner is...Clos Apalta 2005

Clos Apalta 2005 has won the wine spectator magazine wine of the year.

The wine makers envolved in this project where frenchmen Michel Rolland and Jaques Begarie along with the Chilean Andrea León.

This premium wine from the Colchagua valley is a blend of 42% Carmenere, 28% Cabernet Sauvignon, 26% Merlot and 4% Petit Verdot.

Its colour is intense with red and purple hints. Its smell is exuberant and complex, with red and black fruit such as plums, black cherries combined with currant, berries, dry figs with black cocoa and a violet touch. Sweet spices like clover and vanilla give an elegant touch towards the finish. The taste is well balanced, an elegant wine which has a bright attack followed by round, velvety and polished tannins filling the mid palate and a rich long lasting finish. SERVICE AND PAIRING: Decant for 3 hours and enjoy at room temperature (16 to 18°C). Ideal companion for game, lamb, and entrecote fillet. Also good with rich cocoa chocolate desserts.

Retail Price: $79.000 Chilean Pesos

The wine list

Restaurant-Pasta e Vino

This month on the wine list we visit Pasta e Vino situated in Cerro Concepcion, Valparaiso and talk to the manager and first year sommelier student Paolo about, of course, wine and pasta.

• When did Pasta e Vino first open?

We opened in september 2003

• How many tables do you have and what is the capacity of the restaurant?

There are 12 tables and the restaurant has a capacity for 35 people

• Is it true that you have to reserve a month in advance for a table?

Its true, with respect to the weekends, but you are more likely to get a table during the week without having to book.

• Do you have a somellier?

I act as the Somellier in terms of what we buy and how we store, but we basicly let the customer, who knows what they want choose. We offer advice when it is needed.

• Are there certain types of wine chosen for certain dishes or dishes for wines?

No, what we try to do is have a large selection of grape varieties to choose from which should complement the dishes.

• What wines do you serve by the glass?

We serve 6 by the glass, 3 whites chardonny and Sauvignon Blanc and 3 reds Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot and Caménere.

• How many reds do you have in relation to the amount of whites?

48 Reds and 13 Whites

• Do you sell late harvest?

We do, but its not sold that much

• Do you use a specific provider for your wines?

We use a variety of providers and we by direct from some vineyards such as Errazuriz and Concha y Torro that´s how we are able to have a large variety of wines in stock.

• Are all your wines Chilean?

Yes

• If you had access to wines from other countries what would they be?

Maybe some Sauvignon Blanc from New Zealand and perhaps Bordeaux, also some Italian varieties.

But we are happy with the varieties we have and with the varied Chilean climate there will be more introduced.

Here are three dishes recomended by Paolo accompanied by three wines from the Pasta e Vino wine list.

Dish 1
Sea food Spaghitti.

Wine 1
Sauvignon Blanc
Vineyard: Casa Marin, laurel vineyard
Año: 2007
Taste: Very fresh, crisp and mineral
Price:$ 17.000


Dish 2
Duck Ravioli in a port and plum sauce.

Wine 2
Nebbiolo
90% Nebbiolo 10 % Carignan
Vineyard: Botalcura, Maule valley
Year: 2005
Taste: Good acid, good tanins, long taste and full bodied, a unique taste.
Price: $27.000



Dish 3
Pumpkin Ravioli with dried and fresh tomatos, goats cheese and Basil.

Wine 3
Carmenere
Vineyard: Errazuriz, Acocagua valley
Year: 2005
Taste: Dark fruits , good body and structure which complements the tomato and goats cheese.
Price: $16.500

27 glasses raised

Winetoursvalparaiaso had their largest ever winetour with a group of 27 business students fron the Netherlands.

The group from centrimundo visited 2 vineyards, Veramonte and Viña Mar in the Casablanca Valley. They tasted the Veramonte Primus as well as Chardonny 2008, Sauvignon Blanc 2008 and a 2007 Merlot while in Viña Mar they tasted the Charmat sparkling wine along with the Sauvignon Blanc 2008 and the Cabernet Sauvignon reserva 2007.

Afterwards the group decided to go for pizza, which was arranged by us at the Alegreto Restaurant in Cerro Concepcion in Valparaiso.

Bottle Shock to the System

This is the wine movie of the moment with rave reviews from Rolling Stone Magazine and Variety, although i have not even seen it yet.

But what i love about the notion of this movie, is the whole idea that the hegemony of French wine dominance has some how been broken by a new world region and surpise surprise it was the Californians that did it in 1976.

Not knocking the French, as respect must be paid where respect is due with regard to the centuries of fine wine development and culture, which has come from the old world master of vitculture.

When you walk into any decent restaurant in London the wine list is evenly scattered from Australia to Chile, from South Africa to New Zealand and you can see how far new world wines have come.

Of course its another Hollywood wine movie set in America, but hey, A listers and B listers love thier wine. I´m astonished Coppola has not come up with something off the cinematic vine yet.

What i find most important about this peice of celuliod plonk is that wine and all its beauty are being taken to the masses and in some way helps the industry by getting small drops of wine education through to those who would perhaps never pick up a book on the subject.

I must say that i cannot wait to see this movie and i cant help but notice that the wine movie genre has not been exploited that much, as though not all of the terroirs have been used in the world to make wine and that there is still room for more on the subject in distinct terriors on different continents.

Cruising Through Valparaiso Chile 2008-9

Many people will be taking a cruise from Valparaiso or arriving by Cruise ship this 2008-9 season and they will have lots to do in the area ie a winetour.

The main cruise lines passing through this season will be;

Silverseas

Hurti Gruten Group

Royal Caribbean

Princess Cruises

Norwegian Cruise Line

Holland America

Mitsui O.S.K.Passenger Line

There are more, but these are the main ones that will be coming and going this season. In between this coming and going there will lots of visits to vineyards, not only to the Casablanca and San Antonio valleys but also to the Maipo valley just south of Santiago.

Transfers from the port to Santiago can either take in The Casablanca Valley or go direct to Maipo making it easy to get to either ones hotel or to the airport.

Also many people will be arriving at the airport with the intention of going direct to the Valparaiso port so they can catch thier cruise liner but do not realize that they could enjoy a winetour stroke transfer from the airport.

For more information on the port visit VTP and cruise line websites.

Casablanca 2008 Releases

We are now at that time of year when all of the vineyards are out releasing thier 2008 vintages and i would just like to mention a few that i have sampled from Casablanca.

William Cole, Alto Vuelo, Sauvignon Blanc 2008

This wine has not changed really in my opinion. I think that the winemaker has managed to keep a clean balanced, citric, mineral tasting Sauvignon Blanc with a citrus aroma, so it stays as refreshing as before with no leaps of improvement or going backwards.

Viña Mar, Sauvignon Blanc 2008

Now this wine has definately improved from 2007. Its vibrant tropical aroma of pineapple and has stayed the same, but the taste has come on some what from last years vintage. It has a much sharper fruitier taste with alot more zest and is very refreshing.

For more info visit the websites of William Cole and Viña Mar

Decanter Chile 2008 guide

Whilst reading an article called "Pillars of strength" by Steven Spurrier in the Decanter Chile 2008 guide. I could not help but notice how some very good wines and vineyards had been left out, especially those from Casablanca.

Although Casa Marin with their Riesling and Gewurtstraminer, Leyda with thier Pinot, and Matetic with thier EQ Syrah (Technically San Antonio y Leyda Valleys)had been mentioned, i was extreamly suprised that William Cole, Catrala, Veramonte and Viña Mar had not been included.

Another suprise was Viña Aquitania, Sol de Sol Chardonnay, Malleco 2006 being dubbed the best Chardonnay in Chile, surely this is not true and the best of this variety is only to be found in Casablanca, which has the perfect terroir in Chile for such wines.

Further on in the suplement Peter Richards writes on the Limari valley as the next big thing and stating that Chardonnay happens to be the rising star from this part of Chile and in fact Limari has some remarkable similarities to Casablanca. It is not to say that an article on Limari is not warranted, but for the life of me i could not quite understand the exclution of Casablanca.

It so happens that in this 34 page glossy pull out Veramante had taken out a full page colour advert “Where would you plant your vines?” slap bang in the middle of the article on Limari which provide an interesting little juxtapose and a reminder of where the best whites are made.

“Digging Deep” is the article by Anthony Rose and atlast we see something on Casablanca but not regarding Sauvignon Blanc o Cardonnay, but Pinot Noir and the vineyard mentioned is Casas Del Bosque and includes interviews from Felipe Garcia and Felipe Uribe. It would have been good to have ackknowledged Villard, Kingston, Catrala and Viñamar who in my opinoin has produced a smashing Pinot Noir within the 3000 peso price region.

While profoundly wanting this Decanter pull out to give more recognition to the valley where i work and admire the intirerity of its wine, you can not help but feel enthuiastic about Chilean wine as a whole, after reading this collection of articles and promotions. “The new worlds most exiting wine country” as is stated on the front cover. Living here and plying my trade in this industry i can truely say Chilean wine is very striking indeed.