WTN: Errazuriz Single Vineyard Sauvignon Blanc 2008

Casablanca Valley

Light yellow in the glass.

Gooseberry, pine resin and veggy on the nose.

Gooseberry, lemon, lime, grapefruit rind, quite rich, peppery, good weight in the mouth, good acidity, clean and rather grassy.

Peppery, grapefruit and grassy on the finish.

Very rich, but clean and refreshing at the same time.

Screwcap closure.

Purchased at $14.95 (Canadian).

[Jenise]

Sounds like a good one for those of us who like the frisky style. Have only had the cabs from this house, though, and generally found them overoaked.

I've been a fan of the Casablanca Valley ever since I went down to Chile and saw it with the then head winemaker for Carmen, who was an enthusiastic proponent of Casablanca. I could certainly see why.

Since Carmen at that time made an incredibly good SB Reserve from Casablanca, which happened to be one of the best bargains in the US market, I thought (of course I was brand manager at the time, so possibly prejudiced).

One of the reasons, of course, was that Casablanca was a great growing area for SB. Another was that they actually planted the real SB. Most of the SB at that time was in point of fact Sauvignonasse made as SB. And while I'm not opposed to Sauvignonasse (otherwise known as Sauvignon Vert or Friulano now), it's not the same thing as SB.

I have also seen some Chards come out of the Casablanca---but have never found one particularly impressive.

[Jenise]

I've been a fan of the Casablanca Valley ever since I went down to Chile and saw it with the then head winemaker for Carmen, who was an enthusiastic proponent of Casablanca. I could certainly see why....

I have also seen some Chards come out of the Casablanca---but have never found one particularly impressive.

Ditto on the latter, but I've never presumed that was for any reason except my lack of exposure to the broader market. But the SB's have been excellent for quality and value. I really don't buy Chilean wines but for the them.

But...Carmen! I was down there once upon a time with an ITB group and remember being at one of the wineries, and I'm thinking it was Santa Rita, when a group of American businessmen showed up--our winery PR guy told us they were from Brown Forman. I have always thought it likely you were in that group. Anyway, Carmen was one of our visits, too, and the young winemaker was was one of the standouts of all those we spoke with while there--passionate, sincere, and so excited about the future. Also, not too shabby in the looks department either but with a humble demeanor that suggested he was completely unaware of that.

That was indeed Santa Rita, Jenise. Carmen's facility was on the other side of the larger estate; interesting juxtaposition of one of the (then) most modern wineries in Chile right across from one of the most tradtional winery estates. (Owned then by the same person, who is now deceased.) Hope you sampled the empanadas at their restaurant at Santa Rita. And the place is now a Relais property, by the way.

And yes, I might have been one of those B-F people.

And that winemaker would have been Alvaro Espinoza Duran, a friend who I admire no end. He is as you describe him, handsome and winning but humble, a mixture of cute bashfulness and outward passion about his favorite subject. Also usually considered one of the top winemakers of Chile. Jaime Goode is a big fan of his.

Alvaro left Carmen some years later. His passion, which he had to live out, was always with organic farming and biodynamics, and he became the consultant and winemaker for several different operations along those lines, as well as developing his own wines.

At the time you met him, Alvaro was making some of the most dynamic wines at Carmen, and because of them I was a champion of what Chile could be (but, sadly, what they have not succeeded in becoming yet). Also at the same time admiring of Ignacio Recabarren as a potentially great winemaker.

Alvaro was the person most responsible (to me) for his incredible campaign to "legalize" Carmenere and get it properly recognized. As a result of that I imported the very first Carmenere that was independently and separately identified from Merlot---only it wasn't allowed then to be called Carmenere as the battle was still ongoing, and it was a Carmenere/Cabernet blend identified as Grande Vidure-Cabernet Reserve. Alvaro...long before there was any awareness of Carmenere, was working on that variety, and blending it with his single best Cabernet Vineyard (interestlingy named Los Carneros) in the Maipo, simply because he knew how good it was, and that it deserved its separate identity apart from Merlot.

Alvaro's truly stunning SB Casablanca Reserve from Carmen was another example of his being in the forefront. Won all kinds of awards and accolades and accaim---and ended up in closeout bins after the demise of wine.com! (I picked up a few bottles myself.)

But Alvaro has gone nowhere but up after he left Carmen. He and his wife (yes, when you met him he was seriously taken, and still is ) have done some great work with the more artisanal vineyards and have championed the organic/biodynamic movement in Chile to great acclaim.

And he remains one of the absolute nicest, most charming guys I have ever met.

[Jenise]

Hope you sampled the empanadas at their restaurant at Santa Rita. And the place is now a Relais property, by the way.

Santa Rita was beautiful. A true traditional hacienda, and we did eat in the restaurant but our food was ordered by our host. I do not recall empanadas, but strangely I remember that our plate had a stew on it that was very South American and it was paired with a very Asian style salad, which was kind of odd and cute at the same time. Their attempt, we thought, at being continental.

Yes, Alvaro. Movie star good looks without an ounce of vanity. There were two other things that set him apart from all the others such that I remember him when the faces of all the others are forgotten, both of which you mention. One, his commitment to organic farming at Carmen. Now I live a sheltered life admittedly, but I had been around the winemakers of Napa-Sonoma a time or four and had never heard anyone talk about biodynamic farming, at least on a commercial scale. And yet here I was in Chile, land of the cheap wine, home of Concha y Toro, and here I was listening to someone talk about something so advanced, so forward-thinking for its time. And the other was the Grande Vidure-Cabernet--it was the single most impressive red wine I tasted in Chile, and he gave us each a bottle. My friends, retailers in Alaska, imported it after we got back, but I moved to California about then and never saw the wine again except for once at a wine shop in London. I never knew the rest of the story you now tell, so thanks.

So cool, Jenise.

And based on that info, I definitely would have been in that group.

And if you want to still follow Alvaro (he left Carmen a long time ago), he has his own label now, as well as a label called "Kuyen". And he made a wine that I can report is absolutely delicious, called "Antiyal". In addition he has been the consultant for many years for Emilianos Organicos wines from Chile.

And I agree with you: at the time, I think his Grande Vidure-Cabernet was the best wine in Chile. We had no trouble selling every last bottle we could bring in too. His Reserve Merlot and Reserve Cab were almost to the same level. We sold them at a whopping $10 retail at full markup.

[Jenise]

So cool, Jenise. And based on that info, I definitely would have been in that group.

I thought so. Augustin Huneeus's new venture, Veramonte?, were maybe only a year old--no production as yet. And that's about all I can think of to tell you that would fix the date. The year was probably 1996, but could have been '97. It was January.

Wines like Alvaro's stood out in particular because otherwise we found the wines sometimes odd. Certainly, outside of the wineries we had difficulty finding good wine to drink: refrigeration hadn't exactly been figured out and the locals not only liked but actually preferred some oxidation because that's what they were used to. Even restaurants made little or no effort to keep wines in cooler storage. Beef tasted like cardboard. Conger eel was the most popular seafood. And the best meal I had that entire week was the lunch served us in the old mansion at Concha Y Toro. You, probably, were treated to the same show. But it really wasn't just a show--that kind of dignified, gracious hospitality has the stamp of noble generations all over it.

Unfortunately I don't follow Chilean wines. I have exactly three in the cellar: some Don Melchors, which I love, some M, the Bordeaux blend from who is it, Montes? And another that was quite impressive and inexpensive, Terra something. I'll make a point of picking up the Antiyal if I see it--is that the brand, or a proprietary named bottling?

I'm not surprised you were put off by many of the wines you had down there, Jenise.

At that time (I don't know whether or how much it applies now), Chile wasn't really that much of a wine drinking country. And what it was drinking, wasn't largely what it was exporting.

Many of the wines consumed internally weren't destined for import, and weren't much like the wines that were being imported. Part of that was the archaic labeling (they were still using words that were French place names but had no connection (not even varietal content) with whatever wines they were on...like Pommard, for instance, with nothing but Bordeaux varieties in it!!!).

In addition, the home consumption wines were very much in the styles you described---not at all like the squeaky clean but heavy handed style designed and destined for America and Europe.

Matter of fact, first time I went to Chile, the only recognizable labels I saw....were in the little wine shop at the airport, the only place they sold the export wines.

And when I was there, it was razor clams...we had them at every evening meal. And in the ocean resorts and Valparaiso, we had conger eel, razor clams, mussels, and this little egg cup-ish dish with a scallop in an olive oil and garlic bath. And empanadas. Everywhere we went, empanadas. Good ones, though.

One big meal we had was in this very old restaurant up on top of a hill in this ancient old park in the central downtown area. Stodgy food for the most part, but some good dishes. Very formal.

And Santiago was interesting. One mile outside, you're in a third world country where people live in shanties and their oven is clay and in the front yard. South side of the city and in the city core, it's old style Spanish, heavy and formal. North side of town it's like being in Southern California, replete with shopping malls and boutiques and modern architecture.

[Jenise]

I'm not surprised you were put off by many of the wines you had down there, Jenise.

At that time (I don't know whether or how much it applies now), Chile wasn't really that much of a wine drinking country. And what it was drinking, wasn't largely what it was exporting.

Yes, as we discovered. Most of the locals preferred sweeter wine. The dryer style for export wasn't much appreciated. I don't remember the labeling issue but how funny. It was actually most interesting being there to see a thriving wine industry in its infancy.

Wish I could complain now about the empanadas. I loved Santiago, loved all it's old world differences. Wish I could have seen more of it.

My travelling companions were NOT foodies. I shared my room at the Sheraton which would have been on the north side of town based on what you describe, though I don't recall having my bearings to know at the time, with a girl whose passport should have been revoked immediately upon return to the U.S. She was an embarrassment, complaining loudly about everything she perceived as lesser than American living as she had known it in only two places, some tiny town in Oklahoma and Anchorage, Alaska. She appreciated nothing. And all she would eat were hamburgers, three meals a day, and the candy bars in our mini bar which she looted daily out of fear, she claimed, of catching Montezuma's Revenge. Meanwhile, I partook of all the amazing local produce at every meal and I'm quite happy to report that she got ill and I didn't. One of the two guys wasn't any better, so as a group we didn't eat very local.

But there was one who was a fine traveller, and he and I saved each other. And he recognized one of the people in the Brown Forman group, which is how I knew who they were. Was Anchorage ever part of your territory? If so, you would remember the most powerful wine buyer in town, Mike McVittie of the Brown Jug. He was the good guy in our little group of four.

Yes, Alaska was briefly part of my territory when I orginally signed on with Brown-Forman. I was headquartered in Seattle, but since one other guy and I were responsible for seven states, I got to go to Alaska a couple of times.

And yes, I knew Mike. Not well, but I met him a few times. Called on him; he was a pretty good B-F customer. He was an okay guy, and I would imagine a good traveller.

Was one of the other guys Bill Adint, by any chance?

There was a restaurant out in the near burbs...Italian wine name...I'm thinking it was like Barolo, or something. They bought a lot of Single Vineyard Barolo from me too. I was quite successful in Anchorage and Fairbanks when I was there.

Oh, and I remember the Corsair. Very old school, but great list in an old school way.

[Jenise]

Yes, Alaska was briefly part of my territory when I orginally signed on with Brown-Forman. I was headquartered in Seattle, but since one other guy and I were responsible for seven states, I got to go to Alaska a couple of times.

Mike was a funny guy in a Maxwell Smart kind of way. Really liked him. No, never knew a Bill Adint.

Can't recall an Italian restaurant in the burbs with a wine name. Must have closed by the time I got there. Corsair! Yes, extremely old school--"continental", with the flambe carts and all. And boy did Hans have a collection of DRC.

Jenise wrote......Now I live a sheltered life admittedly,. Me too, we should swap some stories, LOL.

Doris

[Jenise]

Jenise wrote......Now I live a sheltered life admittedly,. Me too, we should swap some stories, LOL.

Doris

Okay! You bring the whiskey....