Colchester Cellar Club March 2023 Chile tasting

Colchester Cellar Club Chilean wine tasting

Colchester Cellar Club Chilean wine tasting

Colchester Cellar Club March 2023 Chile tasting 1

 

Local wine clubs are great places to meet interesting people who love wine and try interesting wines. The Colchester Cellar Club is no exception. Friendly and relaxed it has a number of tastings each year on various themes. This time it was Chilean wines.

Below are my tastings notes

Lapostolle Alexandre 2019 Chardonnay at £22 a bottle.

Full on lemon, ripe citrus, nose of oak and smoke, high acid, long length, best with fish or a zesty salad.

Errazuriz wild ferment Chardonnay 2018 at £14 a bottle

Light lemon with lime hints and pink grapefruit,

Morande One to One Gewurtraminer 2018 at £9 a bottle

Perfumed nose, sweet with hints of rose. Med body with very long length. Light notes of lemon and hints of grapefruit and honey.

Morande One to One Pais 2016 at £9 a bottle

Nose of toffee and a hint of tune sweets. Light with red fruit with reserved tannins very much like a good beaujolais.

Mayu Appassimentto Carmenere 2017 at £13 a bottle

Rich black fruit nose, feeds into the flavours. Sweetness to the fruits, firm but soft tannins, so we’ll balanced and integrated with hints of smoke and oak, good solid length. Excellent

LFE 900 Single Vineyard Blend 2014 at £17 a bottle

Smokey, oaky nose with violets and hints of menthol, dry black fruits, spice hint. Very smooth, firm but well integrated tannins. Rather good.

Vik Milla Cala 2019 at £32 a bottle

Fresh red fruit , light nose and body, some spice and a little black fruit . High acidity, Overpriced but very nice.

Purple Angel Carmenere 2018 at £70 a bottle

Fresh menthol on the nose with black fruit. Spice and red and black fruits, firm but balanced tannins with dryness, clear and left on the lees but a lift is used to stir the lees. Its very nice but over priced.

LFE Late Harvest Viogner/Sauvignon Blanc 2017 at £7 a bottle,

Solid desert wine, not sticky but nice fresh flavours, ripe ctritus with good length. For the price this is outstanding. Its not complex but thats what most people need at the end of a meal.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Viñalba, Selección, Torrontés, 2018, Lujan de Cuyo, Argentina

This Torrontes from Vinabla, Lujan de Cuyo in Argentina is a text book Torrontes and that is not a bad thing, dry and bold but with masses of fruit that balances it all. Wth smells of tropical fruit and blossom, there’s lots of flavours in there too, pineapple, mango, melon and peach which went very well with a chicken biryani with vegi curry.

At £9 a bottle its spot on the money and taste.

Viñalba, Selección, Torrontés, 2018, Lujan de Cuyo, Argentina

Viñalba, Selección, Torrontés, 2018, Lujan de Cuyo, Argentina

Lo Abarca, Riesling 2018, Chile

A half decent dry Riesling is one of the best white wines in my book. This was quite a surprise for me. I can’t remember having a Chilean Riesling before or least it wasn’t memorable. This is subtle, aromas and flavours of lemon and lime and its light which is refreshing. The acidity is very well balance with the flavours and i found this was great on its own. Put it was shellfish and you have a winner.

At about £12 a bottle its right on the ball for summer drinking,

Lo Abarca, Riesling 2018, Chile

Lo Abarca, Riesling 2018, Chile

Errazuriz, Wild Ferment Chardonnay 2018, Casablanca Valley, Chile

This wine is made from the naturally occurring yeast in the grape skins. In the past such wines have been subtle and fresh. There are aromas of lemon, pineapple chunks of oak. This wine has additional flavours of stone fruit, apricot and creaminess but its the oak that is an issue. The oak is a little too much for me when drinking this on its own but if you had chicken or seafood it would be pretty good.

At about £13 a bottle its a little pricey for me.

Errazuriz, Wild Ferment Chardonnay 2018, Casablanca Valley, Chile

Errazuriz, Wild Ferment Chardonnay 2018, Casablanca Valley, Chile

Vistamar, Late Harvest, Moscatel 2017, Limari Valley, Chile

Desert wine, its a marmite wine this, you either love it or hate it. The main issue I have is by the time desert is served you’ve had a few wines and think, its it worth opening another different wine?

Its got a beautiful rich lemon colour. There’s lots of ripe citrus, pineapple, lychee on the nose and taste. it has 100g of sugar, a dry wine has 5 or 10g as a comparison, but the acidity and sweetness balance is excellent. Its not a sticky desert wine but fresh and light. I liked it on its own but cheese and crackers at the end of the evening would be a great pairing.

At £6 a half bottle its great value.

Vistamar, Late Harvest, Moscatel 2017, Limari Valley, Chile

Vistamar, Late Harvest, Moscatel 2017, Limari Valley, Chile

 

Blossom Riesling 2017 – Chilian white

 

Chile produces good wines at a fair price. This Riesling is no exception. You do get aromas of petroleum, lemon and lime with minerals that are also on the palette. Some people will have an issue with the petroleum smell and taste but at £6 a bottle is good value. Won’t set the world on fire but you can’t expect that at this price.

Blossom Riesling 2017. Chilian

Blossom Riesling 2017. Chilian White wine

Torrontes – Aldi

Torrontes from Argentia is a reasonably new wine for the mass market. Over the last decade or so more and more producers are shipping this wine to the general public in wine merchants and supermarkets. This bottle comes from Aldi and is a reasonable example. A typical Torrontes is dry, light to medium bodied, very aromatic with flora aromas and flavours of stone fruit such as peach. You get some flora aromas and peach smell, not overly so. The flavour is more floral and peach but at this price you have to be realistic on the quality.

At £4.99 a bottle its not not the best example but neither is it terrible. Try it with asian, chinese or indian foods. Spend £10 and get a good example and just drink less.

Torrontes 2017 from Aldi

Torrontes 2017 from Aldi