Nice wines I have drunk recently - Red or White

Now here is a very interesting wine.

Cosecha Otonal (late picked) Syrah from the Cavas del Valle, Elqui Valley, Chile.

A few posts up I showed their 5-variety red that @juddles and I had with dinner the other night. Yesterday we went to the winery which is one of the extremely few table wine producers in this pisco-dominant production region. As I indicated then, I felt that this was a very tight small producer.

This wine did not disappoint; in fact it exceeded expectations. Recommended served cold, it retains a light tannic edge combined with juiciness, and light sweetness. It’s certainly not in the cloyingly sweet dessert wine category at all; rather it seems to fit into a unique category of its own. First rate.

It was simply yummy and refreshing. @juddles and I just bowled it over as a nightcap while chewing the fat.

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Chris Ringland CR Shiraz 2010

Cold night,high alcohol wine. Couldn’t find my 08 and 09 of this wine so end up with this 2010.

Jam jelly,more sweet than a standard Shiraz , easy to drink ,no decant. Didn’t notice any secondary characters yet.
 
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Some scraps from last night and tonight.

Concha y Toro is a massive wine conglomerate and the world’s second or third largest producer. Offerings are solid from the entry level. This one from the superior level was a cracker. Probably unrecognisable as a CS to most Australians owing to a lack of berry fruit expression, but showing typical Chilean robustness and solid mouthfeel.

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Another from the small Elqui Valley producer that @juddles and I visited. I bought a bottle of everything they had on offer just to try them over the next few days untill I leave the evil clutches.

Again, not a Shiraz easily recognisable as such to an Australian expecting some vanilla characters. Basically, undefinable to variety. Nevertheless, typically Chilean - robust and full. A food wine that needed the BBQ steak @juddles and I slipped in with it tonight.

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@juddles twisted my arm - or maybe I twisted his ;):eek::D, and we pulled the cork on the Malbec from our Elqui Valley producer. Again, a very solid offering not easily classified, but falling short of the gentle, velvet tannins of a good Mendoza or Valle de Uco Argy Malbec.

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We continue our struggle :D:p. Let me just say, there are a few more we are determined to squeeze in before I escape evil influence ;):p.
 
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Some recent wines, the rod n spur blend was a delight
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Unlike the recent Tamar Ridge, this Spring Vale PN had plenty of life left, I would recommend this.
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Then another Tassie PN, 12 months since cracking one of these - it was right at, or just past it’s peak - a very good wine but I will open my last bottle in the next few months
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Tonight, one of the best Viogniers I’ve ever had, plus the top-level wine from the small Elqui Valley producer previously mentioned

The Viognier was from the Limari Valley in N Chile, an agriculturally diverse region. It hit the spot between the light, zesty style (eg. Yalumba, a pioneer of Viognier in Australia) and some small producers that produce the very oily style (eg. in the Margaret River region). A cracker IMO.

The red was extremely good, but not exceptional. It did tend to grow on us (@juddles and me) as we consumed it over a decent steak tonight in N Chile. Smoothness was its key characteristic - a great virtue in its own right, I might add, but maybe just that little bit too much so to the point it slightly fell away. But really, I’m being picky.

And at the price-point, just insanely good value compared with Australia. The Viognier was about $12; the red a gouging $40 which is top-shelf in Chile. Just nuts value-for-money.

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Some heavy-duty action tonight at Charco in Colonia Del Sacramento, Uruguay.

My first ever day in Uruguay, so just putting a toe in the water in the centre of this World Heritage-listed town ;). The other half of each bottle will accompany dinner here again tomorrow - I don’t have @Daver6’s constitution ;):D.

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Something a little different tonight in Punte Del Este, Uruguay.

A 65:35 Chardonnay:Albarino blend. An absolute cracker! The flavours blend just beautifully and gorgeous clarity and balance A revelation!

Ps: Winery is pronounced ‘bowser’, not ‘boozer’ ;):cool::D

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pizza Night, saw this in a friends cellar in the weekend so I took it(what mates do),

This 2009 definitely better than the 2010, not as jammy with more depth ,noticeable alcohol , should start drinking these from now.
 
Twas a funny thing in the mid 2010's where plenty of accolades were thrown at the 2010 south Australian vintage. I found many 2009 variants to be superior to their one year old counterparts. I drank a Lake breeze bernoota 2010 this week and the 2009 I had a few months back was much nicer, more delicate with better balance. What else have we knocked back and enjoyed, the 2014 Vinimofo Arturo 2014 shiraz. A damn fine wine.
The hungerford hill gundagai shiraz 2014 is still a medium bodied stunner, so very complex. A coonawarra jack shiraz 2013 was lovely and I do recally a recent and sublime Jack Chardonnay. I got the Jacks, i got the jacks and they are beautiful.

I will finish on a bot I bought at dannys a few years ago namely for old times sake. Barwang Cab Sauv 2010. This has developed to be such an elegant swan from their natural awkwardness. I used to do plenty of barwangs in my earlier imbibements. This one just cemented this part im my wine history.
 
lots of people called the 2010 vintage too ripe, but i found 2010 cabernet is better than shiraz in south australia.
 

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