gluggy
By Saralyn Mehta, Sommelier( ISG), CSW
When I was a student in high school, I was the girl that would wait until the night before a paper was due to start writing it. I functioned from the delusional belief that I worked better under pressure. As an adult, I know that this is not really true and yet I still find myself back in the pressure cooker time and again. Today, after sheepishly asking our magazine editor for an extension, I went home and promptly began to panic about what to write. In a horribly misguided effort to find inspiration, I poured myself a glass of wine and began channel-surfing. I happened upon the movie Mean Girls. Though I don’ t, as a rule, look to Lindsay Lohan for inspiration, this saga of the destructive power of rumours and gossip gave me my idea for this column. If you hear a rumour often enough, or if it is spoken with enough conviction, at what point is it perceived as an unalterable reality? In other words, rumours stick to reputations, often unjustly.
What does this have to do with wine, you ask? At least once a day, I am met with extreme resistance when I recommend a Chilean wine. Some customers claim that it gives them a headache or other physical reaction. Though it can be true that wines from a certain region can afflict certain people, it would be wrong to paint an entire country’ s wine production with such a broad brushstroke. Chile’ s initial entry into the international market was marked by bulk-produced wines that were cheap and not terribly interesting, which led to a lingering perception that“ cheap wine” was all Chile had to offer. This is not the reality in today’ s market. The new truth about buying Chilean wines is that they are an incredible bang for your buck. They are good, honest wines made by good, honest people offered to us for good, honest prices.
Recently, my friend and colleague Jill told me a great story that proves this exact point. When you work in the wine industry, people often assume that you only drink higher-end wines. We get teased a lot by friends who joke that we have become wine snobs. The bottom line for us is not that we need to drink expensive wine, but we do need to drink quality wine. So, when Jill was invited over to a friend’ s home for dinner, she saw her chance to set the record straight. She came to the dinner party with a couple bottles of Casa Silva Doña Dominga Cabernet / Carménère. While they were eating dinner, the other guests began to talk about how great the wine was. People started guessing the price of the wine.“ Is it $ 20?” one guest asked.“ No way, it has to be more!” said another. Finally Jill told them it was $ 10.99 and that this was only one of many Chilean wines that would knock their socks off for under $ 20.
Doña Dominga is one of the amazing wines from Casa Silva, which consistently over-delivers for the price. Casa Silva Reserva Carménère($ 14.99) and Casa Silva Los Lingues Gran Reserva Carménère($ 18.99) are mystifyingly good. If red wines are not your preference, rest assured the Casa Silva whites are equally as good. Try their Doña Dominga 2008 Chardonnay / Semillon blend($ 9.99) or the Casa Silva 2008 Sauvignon Gris($ 19.99).
The list of over-achieving Chilean wines could go on for pages. Some of my favourites are wines by Montes, especially their Classic Series Merlot($ 14.99). Others, such as the Matisses Cabernet Sauvignon from Casa Marin($ 13.99) or Veramonte Sauvignon Blanc($ 15.99), are must-haves.
I guess what it really comes down to is that it is time to give Chile another chance. Though Ms. Lohan’ s reputation continues to be fodder for the tabloid pages, the Chilean wine industry has made huge strides to improve theirs. So say it with me folks …. MY NAME IS( insert name here) AND I LOVE CHILEAN WINES! �
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