Thursday, October 11 2007
True Confessions From the East Coast
By Peter Mills, Atlantic Canada Account Manager, Winexpert Inc.
Confession #1: I'm not Tim. Most people are generally happy with that, for a variety of different reasons. I'm not a hacker either, Tim actually invited me to contribute here. Really.
Confession #2: I'm Australian. Which leads directly to . . .
Confession #3: I don't like other Southern Hemisphere wines. They take up valuable store shelf space, too many articles are written about them, and they are getting way too much attention. There is only room on this planet for one Southern Hemisphere wine super-power, and crikey mate, that's Australia. We've earned it, the hard way. You know, making wines so blatantly obvious and over the top with flavour and truck loads of one-dimensional character (plus enough oak to cause David Suzuki to boycott) that even a lamp post could identify them blindfolded.
So when people try to tell me about this great South African Chenin Blanc, or that wonderful Argentinean Malbec, so as not to appear rude I just let my eyes politely glaze over and I tune in to those voices only I can hear until they're done. And I would have been perfectly happy to live out my days in this manner. But no! A certain Winexpert retailer in Sydney, Nova Scotia (there's only one, but I agreed not to identify him) punked me--at least the wine world equivalent. Yes, he blind-tasted me a Chilean Chardonnay (Carmen Reserve) and asked me what I thought.
Now, I'm a bit of a Burgundy man myself and have been fortunate enough to spend a bit of time in Beaune, France, so developed a taste for Chardonnay and Pinot Noir, the French way. When I tasted, and was challenged to identify, the mystery wine I knew right away it was Chardonnay. But it wasn't an over-the-top Chardonnay that would have earmarked it as Californian or Australian. I know I'm stereotyping (that means typing with both hands, right?), but you know what I mean about New World Chardonnays in general. No, this one was quite a bit more sublime. Refined and balanced, but not shy by any means. It was a little more fruit-forward than Burgundy, but definitely had French influences, so I astutely came to the conclusion that it was probably a non-I.A.O.C. French wine, and called it a Languedoc-Rousillon.
As wrong as I was, I still think it was a good answer. I went on and on about how much I enjoyed it, just building up my inevitable fall. But I did like it, and I went and tried a couple more Chilean Chards from the liquor store, including Concha y Toro Trio Chardonnay. I thought it might be time to make a batch of my own, so last spring I started a Selection International Series Chilean Chardonnay. The punch line is that last Monday, for the first time ever at my house we had a non-Australian Chardonnay with our Thanksgiving turkey, and everyone was very impressed (except, of course, the turkey). If you want a Chardonnay that doesn't beat you over the head, but doesn't make you play hide and seek either, Selection International Series Chilean Chardonnay might just be the wine for you.
Which brings me to the point, finally. Since I am a confessed Burgundian I thought I would be neglecting my duty if I did not also sample some Chilean Pinot Noir. Among those I tried were Castillo Molina Reserva Pinot Noir and Cono Sur Pinot Noir. Both were very good to excellent. Now, as you may or may not already know, Winexpert are just releasing our very own Selection International Series Chilean Pinot Noir, and I for one cannot wait to get my hands on it. I won't be burying my head in the sand for 40-something years on this one. Cheers.
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