Since winemakers tended to show me their most recent wines, the ones they are most proud of, I have waited until closer to the time of their release before reporting on some of the best wines I tasted during my trip last February (other than my tasting notes on the top wines in purple pages and my report in the FT). They are listed below in alphabetical order.
Vintage notes for typical wines (the best sometimes manage to triumph over Nature):
2001 – very good, elegant and ripe
2000 – rains swelled the berries in February but some later-picked grapes made much more concentrated wines
1999 – good to very good, sometimes very ripe
1998 – El Niño year, too wet for great quality
1997 – very good, especially well balanced
Amelia Chardonnay, Concha y Toro 2000 Casablanca
Savoury with real depth. Quite Burgundian for Chile. Hint of coffee bean in a nose of real interest. Malolactic deliberately suppressed in a trend to adapt Burgundian techniques more specifically for Chile's hotter climate. Lovely texture. Only 2000 cases.
£15ish Oddbins Fine Wine
Antiyal 2000
Alvaro Espinoza's organic boutique winery shows that Chile's peripatetic winemakers can set up on their own too. This lively, frank blend of Cabernet and Carmenère with Syrah is impossible to dislike. The nose is wild; there is no shortage of personality here.
£16.95ish Adnams from about September in the UK and Global Vineyards of Berkeley in the US.
Carmen Winemaker Reserve Red 1999 Maipo
Rich dark chocolate flavours. Attractive blend with real life and some tannin at the end. Peppery character but a bit expensive.
To be launched at the end of 2002 to retail at about £19.
Casa Silva Quinta Generacion Blanco 2000
This cool barrel-fermented blend of Chardonnay, Sauvignon Gris (a Casa Silva speciality) and Viognier has great weight, sophisticated texture and the scent of Viognier. Drink soonish though.
About £15 from Jackson Nugent of London, SW19 (tel 020 8947 9722) or VindiVino of Chicago (tel 773 334 6700).
Casa Silva Quinta Generacion Tinto 2000
Very rich and ripe on the nose. Full and dramatic fruit for this first vintage sourced from the bodega's new vineyards at Los Lingues where Colchagua gives way to Cachapoal to the north. Good structure as well as great opulence – not bad for such young vines!
About £15 from Jackson Nugent of London, SW19 (tel 020 8947 9722) or VindiVino of Chicago (tel 773 334 6700).
Casa Silva Altura 1999
Nose of spice and liquorice. Very very gentle and impressive, this first vintage of this flagship blend of 60 per cent Cabernet Sauvignon with Carmenère and Merlot grown at the original vineyards near the company's base in Angostura. Very interesting.
Cono Sur 20 Barrels Cabernet Sauvignon 2001
This wine is very dense indeed, made from grapes grown on the Tocornal estate in Puente Alto. I tasted this offering from an offshoot of Concha y Toro when it was still young but it's worth looking out for.
Cono Sur Visión Cabernet Sauvignon 2000 Maipo
Extremely deep colour. Very slight herbaceousness on the nose but a lively palate with lots of oomph for the money.
About £8
Marques de Casa Concha range
See Wines of the week (4 June 2002).
Morandé Golden Harvest Sauvignon Blanc 2000
Fully botrytised sweet white that should be drunk this minute but there's no doubt about that botrytis. A good object lesson for tasters. Unfortunately, it's unlikely to make it through the EU barrier of protectionism.
Santa Rita Floresta Cabernet Sauvignon 1999 Apalta
The first vintage of this wine from unirrigated 80-year-old vines is impressive, and not over-priced at around £16. This may not be as sophisticated as Santa Rita's top Cabernet Casa Real 1999 made entirely from Maipo fruit (Floresta contains about 15 per cent from Maipo). A very broad, opulent nose is followed by thick, concentrated fruit with masses of personality that is perhaps very slightly rustic but this is a line to watch. The Floresta Petite Sirah/Merlot/Cabernet 1999 from Maipo is also interesting, also finishes slightly dry at the moment, but is clearly built to last. The Petite Sirah cuttings, incidentally, were imported as Syrah.
Veramonte Merlot 2001 Casablanca (CS)
This shows that Casablanca can also grow great Merlot (as well as white grapes and Pinot). It's very ripe, toasty and lively, though presumably may not be released for a while.
About £7
Villard Sauvignon Blanc 2001 Casablanca
Nothing like Sancerre, New Zealand or California Sauvignon Blanc, though with its combination of green zappiness and a slightly honeyed character perhaps more like the last.
Viña Casablanca Cabernet Sauvignon, Santa Isabel Estate 2000 Maipo
Ignacio Recabarren's successful bid to prove that even Cabernet Sauvignon can be persuaded to ripen in this, one of the coolest parts of Casablanca. Thick, sweet, unusually refreshing wine with notes of soy sauce.
Viu Manent Malbec Special Selection 2000
Access to Malbec vines between 60 and 80 years of age is this producer's USP and this is looking like one of their best examples. It was already tasting of stewed blackberries in February 2002. Extremely sweet and dramatic with sufficient acid and tannin to have a future – though arguably Argentina does it better...?
William Cole Pinot Noir 2001 Casablanca
An American with a Chilean wife has decided to spend his hi-tech fortune on one of the cool Casablanca Valley's few wineries. This second vintage of a non-serious Pinot for early drinking seems even more successful than the first – so long as prices are kept low.