29
May
2011
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Category: On the Road with the Grape Guy
Montgras is a name you may have heard, and if not, maybe you’ve seen one of their other properties names adorning a bottle of wine. Montgras was established in 1992 and since then has added 3 other distinct properties/labels throughout Chile. Montgras started in the Colchagua Valley then picked up vineyards in Leyda, Maipo and decided to go up in-them-thar-hills in their own backyard with the addition of their Ninquen property (1600ft above sea level) in the Colchague Valley.
Today, we had lunch at Far Niente restaurant and tasted thru 6 different wines (at least one from each property) with head winemaker Santiago Margozzini (or as some of us prefer to call him “Magazine”). From the Amaral property (in Leyda), home to crisp whites to Ninquen, Montgras and Intriga (in the Maipo) there was not a stinker in the bunch; but of course there are wines that are just more “wow” than others … here are my top three wines.
(see which were my top 3 wines, plus see pictures of lunch and other stuff, click here)
To read about more interesting adventures thru the world of wine check out the On the Road With the Grape Guy blog.
29
May
2011
- Details
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Category: On the Road with the Grape Guy
After all this wine it's Miller Time ... seriously, a beer is what I wanted after sampling all these wines from these two South American powerhouses, Chile and Argentina: rich, fruity, robust, high alcohol ... no wonder these wines are all the rage, they're so dang good and chuggable. At some point in the middle of the tasting I just wanted to get a full glass, sit in a corner and start speaking Latin American in whatever dialect I was suppose to converse in.
Okay, let's get serious for a second, there were some really good wines being poured, and I took this opportunity to taste the wines not in Vintages or on the General List - I figured I could taste those any day. No, tonight I was going for those limited edition, pay-50%-down-tonight-get-'em-in-six-months wines; basically, the ones I may never get to try again, unless I'm invited back next year.
The room was broken down into half Chile (on the left) and Argentina (on the right) - with a divider down the middle called "Wine Discoveries" - here you could learn about certain regions, different grape types, or non-traditional grape varieties (like Torrentes, big there but not here) - I was sad to see no Bonarda station, which is due for its day in the sun - great value wines that have tons of fruit ... oh well maybe next year.
Chile ... (Top Chilean Wines) ... (to find out the best Chilean and Argentinean wines of the night, click here)
