The Chile challenge

by Chris Losh

Last week, while the rest of the world (it seemed) was stuffing its face with Puligny and cheese at the gazillion tastings of en primeur Burgundy, I joined a hardy bunch of sommeliers for a tasting of 50-odd Chilean wines.

Less sexy than Montrachet, perhaps, but arguably more interesting. And almost certainly more useful.

Chile experts Peter McCombie MW and Peter Richards MW had got together to select 10 Chilean wines in five categories: Sauvignon Blanc, Chardonnay, Pinot Noir, Syrah and Red Blends (though the latter was mostly Bordeaux-grape driven).

Visiting sommeliers had then been invited to pick wines from their list that were not from Chile to slip into the line-up. The wines were tasted blind and in rough price order. Though none of the prices were known, we were told that they ran from about £10-£20 (ex VAT) a bottle. At the end of the tasting, judges were asked to nominate their top three wines in each flight, and the scores collated to find the winners.

Would Chile be able to see off the competition?

It was really interesting to taste, knowing that there were a few ringers in there – not least because it made you aware of what an impact the cool-climate revolution in Chile has had on the region’s wine scene.

I reckon that 10 years ago, if you slipped interlopers into a line-up of Chilean reds or (particularly) whites, they would have stood out a mile, but it was a lot tougher this time.

Having gone over the crib sheet in the comfort of my own home, I can now admit that I spotted about half of the foreigners, but it’s the ones that I misread that were interesting. A couple of the Sauvignons from Leyda and San Antonio I put squarely in Sancerre, with another in Pouilly Fumé.

Likewise a couple of the best Chardonnays would not have looked out of place in line-ups of Meursault or Premier Cru Chablis. I don’t feel embarrassed about getting these wrong. And I hope that the guys at San Pedro don’t mind me putting their Kankana Syrah in McLaren Vale, when it’s actually from Elqui.

So, while it was a snapshot tasting, what can we learn from the results?

Well, on this evidence, the best regions for Sauvignon Blanc are undoubtedly Leyda and San Antonio, which make wines in a far more elegant northern-French style than the workaday Casablanca.

The star regions for Chardonnay were Leyda (again) and Aconcagua, but there were a few more ‘misses’ amongst the Chileans (wines with no votes at all), suggesting that while Sauvignon is reliable (and sometimes dull), the Chardonnays are a bit more up and down.

The Pinot Noir flight contained, as you might expect, the wine of the tasting: the Cono Sur Ocio, which was voted for by pretty much every taster. While this full-flavoured but balanced wine was from Casablanca, San Antonio and Leyda were reliably good – and somewhat lighter. Viña Leyda deserves a special mention for another fine showing here (as it did with its Sauvignon Blanc and Chardonnay submissions, too).

With the Syrahs, we were back to ‘hit and miss’ again, with three wines getting no votes, and three-way ties for first and second places. Again, the cooler-climate styles were most popular: Leyda and Casablanca in particular. This, we can conclude, is a grape varietal that is a work in progress but that shows real promise.

The Red Blends flight was so diverse as to be almost impossible to call, with everything from Carmeneres, Bordeaux-blends, Carignans and blends based on Syrah and Malbec. But it was interesting to see that as many of the submissions were from wine regions that nobody was talking about twenty years ago - Maule, Limarí – as from ‘classics’ like the Rapel. Strangely, nothing from Maipo. I hope the Chileans don’t forget that the latter has plenty to offer.

Anyway, I’d suggest taking a look at the results below. There’s some great stuff to be had. And none of it from Burgundy.

THE WINNERS

Sauvignon Blanc

Viña Leyda Garuma Vineyard Sauvignon Blanc 2011, Leyda. £51.18/6x75cl. Enotria, 020 8961 5161

Chardonnay

Errázuriz Aconcagua Costa Wild Ferment Chardonnay 2009, Aconcagua. £70/6x75cl. Hatch Mansfield, 01344 871800

Pinot Noir

Cono Sur Ocio Pinot Noir 2009, Casablanca. £131.98/6x75cl, Concha y Toro UK, 01865 873713

Red Blends

Viña von Siebenthal Parcela #7 2009, Aconcagua. £55.74/6x75cl. New Generation Wines, 01233 65 6787

Syrah/Shiraz

= Emiliana Signos de Origen Syrah (Organic) 2009, Casablanca. £57.78/6x75cl. Boutinot, 0161 908 1300

= Kingston Family Vineyards Bayo Oscuro Syrah 2008, Casablanca. £140/6x75cl. Contact Barbara Heydon, barbara@kingstonvineyards.com

= Viña Leyda Canelo Vineyard Syrah 2009, Leyda. £43.80/6x75cl. Enotria, 020 8961 5161