Friday Wine Tasting: Chilean Whites
June 10, 2008 by Rachel Segal
Filed under Drinks
Hosting a wine blog provides a lovely excuse for hosting complimentary events. The type of events that include delicious libations, laughter and conversations. Said events may or may not also include Mike & Ikes, Pop Rocks, baby carrots and a number of cameras. But that is neither here nor there.
Going into our wine tasting last Friday, we were well aware that Chile is far more well known for their reds then whites. But who wants to colour inside the lines? We take risks – which sometimes end surprisingly well and other times take us in directions we might have been better off without. 
Of course, it might have helped if we triple checked to make sure all our Chilean Chardonnays and Sauv Blancs were actually from Chile. Once we realized that a couple of North American intruders had snuck into our LCBO bags, we decided this could be excused and justified by labeling them “controls” in our delicious experiment.
Here’s how we ended up:
J. Bouchon’s Sauvignon Blanc 2007 (Chile): very citrus-y, but also a little harsh and well on the acidic side. No one particularly loved this one and overall felt it was “not very interesting” and tasted like an average house white at a bar.
Concha Y Toro Trio Sauvignon Blanc 2006 (Chile): I was surprised that this one didn’t fair well, since I’ve had it before and found it to be lovely. While I would like to blame our decidedly common stem-less stemware, there were others that did just fine even with such a handicap. “Displeasing”, “Boring” and “Not delicious” outweighed one lone “Nice” from the group.
Painted Turtle Sauvignon Blanc 2007 (Canada): This one was a winner for everyone in the group, even if it wasn’t terribly distinctive (and was one of the first non-Chilean bottles to find their way onto the table). While the expected citrus tones were there, the peach-y taste was unexpected and…surprisingly good.
Wild Horse Canyon Chardonnay 2007 (Canada): I’ve never been a huge Lycee fan, but this bottle does it right. A few of our guests passed on a glass so they could continue to savor Painted Turtle, but the three of us who charged on agreed they were missing out. Crisp and summery, this one would pair nicely with a poolside afternoon.
Casillero Del Diablo Chardonnay 2007 (Chile): Wow, lovely. A surprise finish after we were so disappointed by the first two Chilean blends, but this one was well above average and would have easily been finished off had we not taken care of business with the last two bottles.
Final Thoughts…
There appear to be reasons Chile is not known for their white wines. Beaten out by a couple of Canadians, with only one out of three of them making the cut for a future repeat showing. I recommend investing elsewhere for flavorful summer whites.
Like Gary Vee says, everyone’s palate is different.. that said, you need to know a little bit more about the bulk wine produced by Painted Turtle and Wild Horse Canyon.
They buy their grape juice in bulk from a variety of vineyards from all over the region. Look at the Wild Horse bottle, the juice could be from Oregon, Washington or BC. They bottle it here to get a Canadian distinction, but the grapes are of an unknown and unpredictable origin.
Check out the PT website – “Cellared in Canada, Painted Turtle wines are artfully blended from domestic and imported wine.”
“imported wine” could mean a bulk shipment of crushed grapes from Bulgaria. Sure, it’s cellared here, but where was it grown?
Again, to each their own, but these bottles are really the Canadian equivalent of Yellow Tail.
Unsophisticated wines that are easy to drink, and not meant to be reviewed.
Hi bz,
I disagree, especially with your last point about what is or isn’t meant to be reviewed.
I can understand where you’re coming from on what is imported, cellared, etc – and true enough that neither of those wines are particularly special or unique…but our goal (and my goal especially when it comes to reviewing wines) is not only to talk about the best of the best but to give an opinion on bottles that are also affordable and accessible.
There are enough blogs out there that cater to snobbery and elitism when it comes to a fine glass of wine. I personally believe there is space for a more friendly approach (not to mention openness to try something new and discuss).
And I’ve been known to enjoy Yellow Tail’s Pinot Grigio from time to time – the horror, I know. ;-)
Thanks for stopping by!
I won`t even get into the whole `Cellared In Canada`issue. Thats worthy of a whole blog post onto itself.
As for finding “flavourful summer whites“ to enjoy I think you need not go any further than our own backyard. The Niagara region, specifically Beamsville, are producing some of the best aromatic whites available anywhere. Wineries like Fielding Estates, Hidden Bench and 30 Bench produce stunning Riesling, Pinot Gris, Gewürztraminer and Sauvignon Blanc.
Not trying to engage in snobbery, just trying to pass along some information that is lost in marketing glitz and fruit bomb bliss.
bz – I hear you, I really do. When I see truly horrible wines that are packaged well (or at least innovatively) or a glass tastes more like a fruity cocktail than wine, a little part of me dies too.
But, I tried it – so I’m gonna review it…good, bad…and trust me, compared to the terribly flat/tasteless bottles from Chile on the table, these were quite good. :-)
Duarte – agreed! Multiple road trips this summer are definitely in order… :-)
Oh, and dont get me started on Ontario wines… did you know the quality is so sorely lacking that a winery need only include 50% grapes from Ontario to be considered VQA?
HALF, that’s it. The rest could be bulk Hungarian plonk.. doesnt matter.. if half we grown on the bench, it’s VQA!
I do have to toss a nod towards 30 Bench. We had a great visit with the staff when we were there 2 yrs ago.. unfortunately the wine wasnt as good at home, as it was there.
http://www.buzzbishop.com/blog/2008/03/05/wine-wednesday-thirty-bench/
Sorry bz but you should get your facts straight before you start trashing Ontario wines. If you did some research into VQA standards you would have found that:
Every VQA wine meets the following standard:
* Wine must be made from 100% fresh Ontario grown grapes — no concentrates are permitted – Grapes used must meet a quality standard for each variety (measured by natural sugar content in the ripe grapes)
VQA has some of THE strictest quality standards in the world. You can read more about it here:
http://www.vqaontario.com/theWines/quality.htm
The same VQA standards apply in BC.
My bad. This can’t be good tho:
The LCBO’s efforts to distinguish Ontario’s VQA wines from the Cellared in Canada wines – blended varieties that may contain up to 70 per cent imported wine – are getting better, but there is still room for improvement.
The LCBO must be vigilant that its stores continue to keep Cellared in Canada wines separate from VQA labels, with continued consumer education programs to make sure buyers know the difference.
The provincial government has to improve its marketing by investing in more promotions for Ontario wines throughout the year – the bulk of Ontario wine marketing is currently done during harvest season – and less on the foreign products that compete with our wineries.
http://www.owensoundsuntimes.com/ArticleDisplay.aspx?e=1044835
bz – No one is arguing with you on the difference between “cellared in Canada” and an Ontario wine…(though I will point out that the editorial piece you reference wouldn’t agree that both are swill). In the case of this wine tasting, the cellared wine my friend accidentally picked up was kept so far away that it ended up co-mingling with Chile! ;-)
That being said, I’d say the author’s opinion on how the LCBO can improve even further *is* good…just because there are ways they can continue to make it better doesn’t mean they’re currently failing.
If I’m reading incorrectly into the brief commentary you left before the lengthy quote, happy to know what it is you meant to imply.