I've never been a great fan of Chilean wines. For some reason, regardless of price or pedigree, the reds always seems to come across to me as thin and light with an abundance of bell pepper and green tobacco notes - just not my style. With that in mind and my anti-Chilean prejudices in full swing, I opened the
2005 Chevriot Reserve, Maule Valley tonight with much fear and trepidation. I didn't buy this wine. My father-in-law left it here after one of him recent visits. He paid $6 for it, marked down from $22. I wouldn't consider paying full price for this wine. But for $6, I wouldn't hesitate to pick up a case just for meals like tonight's grilled flank steak with chimichurri sauce.
The blend in the bottle is 80% Cabernet Sauvignon and 20% Merlot; a number I find rather shocking as the plummy, mocha and green tobacco notes and light tannins really speak more of Merlot than Cabernet. Picks up more dusty tannin the longer it stays open. Quite a nice pairing with the meal, but the last glass of the night (without food) isn't very pleasant. May appeal to drinkers of Bordeaux and other more herbaceous-driven Bordeaux-style blends.
Tip of the cap to
Cellar Tracker for the image......
For free, or $6, your adventure has increased you experience, knowledge, and advocacy abilities; quite a good deal, I'd say.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the info.
Just picked a bottle of this up today. It goes down incredibly smooth after about an hour in a glass. However, I can't seem to pick up any real taste to it. Is that what they were going for?
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