It Starts With A Grape

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A little fun fact about Chile for you:

Chile remains as one of the only regions in the world unaffected by pyhlloxera, which is a disease that forced grape growers around the world to graft vines onto genetic rootstock which could resist the disease. Not to say that grafted vines produce lower quality wine, its just neat to think about how those vines have been growing un-tutched and un-altered for hundreds of years….

That being said…on to Root:1. Because this is a relatively young cab, i was surprised to find a nose of deep fig and brown sugar, complimented with a super smooth oak, usually reserved for older wines, and a dense ruby garnet color. The first sip glides over your tongue, delivering luscious black cherries, and ultra dark cocoa to your taste buds. Its got a super juicy finish, with hints of tobacco. A perfect pair for roasted black pepper chicken in a cherry glaze, with a side of sauteed red potatoes, and would have no problem standing up to almost any sharp cheese. link

Well, its a beautiful shade of magenta, and has a mighty fragrant nose. As a matter of fact, about five minutes after un-corking you’ll probably find your neighbor on your doorstep asking for a  glass. Its packed with jammy raspberries, soft oak, blueberry, and nuances of vanilla. In contrast to its super fruity nose, its a little on the earthy side, but remains juicy. Being a typical merlot, if there is such thing anymore, its medium bodied with a fair amount of tannin. The finish is lengthy and soft, with traces of tobacco and plum lingering on the palate. It pairs well with a mild creamy cheese, or rotisserie chicken and herb’ed red potatoes.

Syrah, Sangiovese, Barbera, Tannat, Granache, and Mourvedre. What more could you ask for? This most impressive California blend, displaying a beautiful deep purple color, definitely packs a punch. It opens with a nose of sweet black cherries and toasty oak, followed by a silky smooth texture and black berries on the palate. There’s quite a bit of oak, so much so that it would be borderline offensive, if not for the ultra bright fruit. This is what i like to call a ‘fun wine’ , its got nice body, plenty of flavor, and is moderately easy drinking. Being medium-heavy bodied, and hugely fruit forward, it would be a fantastic pair for chipotle grilled spare ribs, but it could be paired with something as easy as a BBQ’ed char-grilled burger with crispy fried onions.

Because this wine is of Australian origin, i expected it to be a big, juicy, fruit bomb. Well, I was wrong. It has a delicate nose consisting of subtle oak, licorice, hints of clove, and fresh blackberry. If I’m not mistaken, there’s also a bit of freshly cut green pepper in there to. Its good and spicy on the palate, and there’s a balance of oak and vegetation that is very distinct to this wine. Though fairly light in body, it has a rather flavorful finish. As far as easy drinking reds go, this ones a winner. Thoughts on food, chicken chili comes to mind. Also, (something i thought was pretty interesting), the label for this wine is actually a work of art by the artist Mel Kadel. From what i understand there are a couple different labels that go along with this wine, and it was actually named after Mel’s artwork! Pretty nifty if you ask me.

A little back story:

Translated, Casillero Del Diablo, means Cellar of the Devil. When this winery, Conha y Toro, was first founded, the owner had a special reserve of wine he kept just for himself. He was having problems keeping people away from his ‘private cellar’, so he posted on it Casillero del Diablo, and it worked. If it had not, you may not be able to enjoy this most delicious wine today.

This Chilean Cabernet opens with a bouquet of blackberry jam, and cassis, on a blanket of toasty oak, accompanied by nuances of fresh cracked black pepper. This is a heavy duty red, full bodied and flavorful. With a deep garnet color, It boasts jammy fruit, tart cherry, and tobacco. It has a most pleasant earthy quality about it, plenty of that toasty oak carrying over to the palate, with a bone dry and quite lengthy cherry finish. Drink it alone if you dare….If not, it will match up with something as simple as burgers off the grill, or beef kabobs with green peppers and mushrooms.

This lovely Italian is light to medium bodied, and especially easy drinking. The nose boasts tart cherries, while hinting at raisins and cloves, cloaked in a mild oak. My first sip ended up being far less fruity than expected. Though the tartness did show through, it definitely had far more oak, and less berry. Its a very clean wine, from noes to finish. It didn’t linger very long at all, which i thought worked well for this wine, sometimes you just want a nice clean finish. It would pair well with most any tomato based pasta dish, or a veal parm, chicken is a little to light for it. Though you could drink this one alone, i would recommend pairing it with food.

Upon my first sniff, it was apparent that this was going to be a delightfully spicy wine. Most distinguishably cinnamon, along with plum, and black currant. It had sort of a sweet and sour sort of thing going on with its bouquet.  Though this wine has ample fruit, I quickly realized it needed to sit open (or be decanted) for an hour or so, to really let the fruit shine through to the palate. Otherwise, its just a tad too tannic. After letting it sit for a while, its juicy fruit was fallowed nicely by a bone dry,spice filled finish. This is a good wine for sipping, but it would also pair perfectly with a hearty stew, or a berry glazed rack of lamb.

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I love Malbec, and I’m always really excited when i find an awesome one for a good price. This is one of those Malbecs. It opens with nuances of strawberry jam, black pepper, plenty of dark cherry, and subtle oak. I was surprised when a great deal of oak carried over to the palate, along with a not so surprising amount of black pepper. Its got nice upfront fruit, more subtle than expected, but the balance of french oak and fruit on the finish is perfect. Technically, its medium to heavy medium bodied, but I could see it standing up nicely to some serious grilled steak, or pork. However, drink it over pizza, or a tomato sauce based dish and your going to bring out a lot more of those fruit flavors. As for cheese, definitely Smoked Gouda.

Alright, so, i have to say, when i turned this bottle over and read of its contents, i was nothing less than intrigued. This blend,hailing from California, consists of Barbera, Zinfandel, Petite Sirah, Carignane, and Alicante Bouchet grapes. Think its a mouth full to say? Well, its a mouth full to drink! Its a beautiful shade of ruby red, with just hints of brick. This blend has a super fragrant nose, raspberry jam, sweet dark cherries and cloves, just to name a few. (At this point i became really excited) This is a huge, juicy wine, with a mouth feel like silk. All those cherries on the noes translated into ‘right off the tree’ cherries on the palate, balanced out with some serious lingering oak. Its simply a perfectly done wine, which would go great with an array of dishes; Bourbon glazed grilled steak comes to mind, or something BBQ’ed. The cheese is definitely Gorgonzola, or you could just drink it all by itself.

From France, this Pinot opens up with a lovely toasty oak on the noes, and jammy fruits including blackberry, and dark cherries. Id say its anywhere from light-medium, to medium bodied. Upfront, but pleasant fruit is first to caress your palate, with a subtle lingering oak on the finish. Its well balanced, and along the same strain as a traditional french Pinot, but with a slight new world twist. It would pair well with anything from roasted lamb, to a light beef stew. However you can certainly enjoy this one all by itself, it doesn’t need food.