Given our pleasure finding and drinking Chilean wines over the last five years, we couldn't let Wine Week pass without including a wine from Chile, especially with the earthquake there that killed 800 people and ruined hundreds of millions of liters of wine.
Chile has great bargains and values (not always the same thing). We've written about it a lot here, because it's relatively easy to find Chilean wines under $10. And many of these are great, tasty values.
Within Chile, we consider the Colchagua Valley, our little secret valley of superb wines. Ever since we discovered MontGras Carmenere, we've never had bad luck buying a wine made in the Colchagua Valley in the middle of the country known as Region 6. We're sure there are terrible wines from the valley, but we haven't found one yet.
Our latest discovery was 2 Brothers 2005 Cabernet Sauvignon Reserva. It retailed for $15 when it was released, but we bought a case for $8.33 a bottle (and no shipping) from EmpireWine.com. What a bargain AND value. Robert Parker and Wine Spectator both gave it an 88. Not bad for a really good $8 weekday wine.
It smells of blackberries, currants and cedar and tastes of chocolate and spice and toast. Lots of berries and cassis in here. It's certainly chewy, but its not so thick that you couldn't drink it with non-meat dishes, which is how we had it.
And one last thing, the two brothers give $.50 from every bottle sold to breast cancer research in honor of their mother, who loved the Fleur de Lys that is on every label. They've already passed the $1 million contribution mark and have started expanding their gifts to other charities.
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Thanks so much for the tips about this wine and Empire Wines. We bought a case, as you advised and we LOVE this rich, chewy cabernet. We're still pinching ourselves that a wine so good can be had for 8.33 a bottle with no charge for shipping. We also tried the MontGras Carmenere and will probably end up buying a case of this also (although it's a bit pricier and not eligible for free shipping). We put together a case of two bottles each of six wines under $10 from the "Free Shipping" menu at Empire and will report. Jeanetta & Charles
ReplyDeleteThe other online wine store we love is LiquidDiscount.com. Usually between the two we find what we're looking for or something close. For example, Tim's brother likes the lighter Syrah and Shiraz and Zinfandel, because like many people these days he's eating less meat. For a recent birthday (it was a big one!), we sent him a mixed case of Syrah/Shiraz from France, Chile, Australia and the U.S., all rated 90+ and all under $15. We wish we'd sent one to ourselves. One was the D'Arenberg Stump Jump that is under $10 and was on Wine Spectator's list of best 100 wines of the year.
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